The Color Matters
by TheAnalei
Summary: Hundreds of years without ever caring for a human came and passed. So why was this one human different? Why did he suddenly care so much? AU. Brotherly Acelu. Rated for violence.
1. Chapter 1

**Warnings: AU, Vampire!Ace, Little!Luffy, violence, fluff**

**Disclaimer: One Piece belongs to Eiichiro Oda. I only own the plot.**

* * *

**The Journey Home: The Day We Met, the Day He Learned to Care**

Living for 750 years had made Ace numb to life. He had long gotten over how things changed since to him, it seemed as though nothing changed. He believed it was the same things over and over again. Then again, it might just be him criticizing humans. As a fire wielding vampire, and the son of Gol D. Roger, he would have a hate for the people who wanted him dead for who and what he was for his whole life.

His home with the Whitebeard's and he was the head of the Second Division. The large purple and white tattoo spread across his back was his pride and joy. Edward Newgate was the only man who he would ever call father. Marco, Thatch and Sabo had become his closest brothers within the enormous group of vampires.

All Ace wanted to do right now was return to them. He had just finished a mission, killing off a man who should've died long ago. He watched expressionlessly as the man's corpse burst into flames before sighing. This man had committed awful atrocities in their territories and on their ship and now he would no longer be able to harm their people. He turned on his heel and began to walk out of the destroyed town that once held humans. Ace, however, was numb to the destruction.

The town had not been big. There were maybe twenty houses, but they were all empty or destroyed now. Before Ace had reached the man, the man had gone on a massacre. The smell of blood was thick in the air and he had to hold back from bearing his fangs and sucking the blood out of every body there. He could feel his pupils dilating from the scent and eventually it became too much, even for him, and he had large amounts of control over his blood lust.

He turned around and walked to the closest body, a young woman who had been stabbed several times, sinking his fangs into the skin and drinking the rest of the blood. The blood provided a cooling sensation from the burning hunger clawing at his throat. The fresh blood of the girl who he could tell died only minutes before was something he craved

When he was done he stood and turned around again, wiping his face with his arm, but stopped in his tracks upon seeing a young child staring up at him. The child grinned at him, despite the blood covering Ace's face. Ace merely snorted and sidestepped him, not caring for the small human in front of him. He began to walk away, intent on leaving the village and the child to disappear into nothingness, but didn't get more than fifteen steps before he realized the kid was following him.

Ace discretely glanced behind him but the little kid somehow saw him and stopped in his tracks.

"Stay here, kid."

Ace began to walk forward again and for a few seconds, he didn't hear footsteps. He smiled as he continued on but then, the steps started again. He stopped in his own steps and then heard frantic running. He turned around and saw the kid hiding, rather badly, behind a barely there wall. Ace raised an eyebrow and spoke again.

"I said to stay here, kid. Don't follow me."

He began to walk again, slowly this time, and turned a corner. Sure enough, the footsteps began again and by the time the kid turned the corner, Ace was kneeling down at the child's eye level. The kid bumped into his knee and fell to the ground. Ace watched as he pulled himself up, wiping away some tears from his rough impact with the hard dirt, before he grinned at the older.

Ace assumed the kid was maybe three years old. He was a small kid and he was covered in dirt, mud, bruises and scratches. He didn't smell all that pleasant either, but Ace just chalked it up to the kid being outside for a long time. His feet were bare and all he wore were tattered shorts and a shirt that obviously belonged to an adult as it trailed behind him, the shirt ends covered in dirt and the sleeves covering the kids' hands. Three buttons of the shirt were buttoned but none of them were in the right holes. Ace could see through the large gaps in the space between buttons and saw that the toddler's ribs were poking out and his complexion was far too pale for a young human. He also had a scar, fairly new, under his left eye. Despite his bad condition, he grinned widely up at the elder. Ace sighed.

"I told you to stay, didn't I?" He allowed his eyes to turn red and his fangs to come out once more and growled at the child, hoping to scare him away. He realized it wouldn't work when the kid just giggled and poked his tooth like it was a toy. Ace blinked in shock before sighing and running a hand through his own wavy black hair, shoving his hat onto his back in the process.

Dusk was descending on the town. The sky was a dark red, almost purple, and Ace could tell the toddler could barely see him. Ace could see him perfectly, however, and tried to talk to him. "What's your name?" The child just looked up at Ace curiously before smiling. Ace frowned. "Kid, what's your name?" The toddler just giggled and mimed Ace, opening and closing his mouth and making several indistinct sounds. Ace realized it was gibberish and he sighed. "You don't understand me do you?" The toddler laughed again and Ace's frown deepened.

This kid seemed innocent and pure. Ace didn't know if he had a family or if they had been killed off in the massacre. He had originally planned to leave the kid there but now had his doubts. It was rare for him to feel anything for humans, but something about this kid…he was different.

A small finger poked his nose. Ace looked down at the giggling kid and gave a small smile before poking the young human on the forehead. The child stumbled slightly but Ace quickly caught him before he could fall. He stood, lifting the child into his arms and ruffling the young human's hair. "I don't know why I'm doing this, but I'm going to take you back to my home," Ace mumbled to the younger. Suddenly he heard a strange grumbling sound that he hadn't heard in years and stared at the human as the boy poked his own stomach with wonder. Ace sighed and shifted him to a more comfortable position. "My name is Ace. We'll figure out what to call you later. For now, let's go get some food, alright?" The human laughed and clutched Ace's cloak in his small hands as the elder began to walk.

* * *

Ace realized that he needed to teach the younger how to speak. He also needed to give him a name. But Ace had no idea what to call him and resorted to calling him squirt for now until he thought of an appropriate name for the toddler.

After a week, however, the child looked up when he said one word with recognition in his eyes. He had been pointing out random things about their surroundings to try and get the kid to connect words to things. That was how kids learned apparently, at least according to Thatch. Ace repeated every word in the sentence until he realized what word it was.

"Fluffy?" When Ace said that, he had been describing some animals in the woods to Luffy to help him connect words and hopefully learn to speak. The young child grinned and Ace hummed in thought.

"Luf!" The toddler tugged on Ace's shirt as he spoke. Thinking back on it, he made that sound often whenever he babbled. Ace thought for several moments. The boy knew that word and he responded to it, but he didn't want to use the word fluffy to describe the toddler. Still, he needed some way to get his attention.

"Luffy?" He glanced at the young human who smiled up at him, tugging at his shirt happily. Ace gave a small smile back before moving the child closer in his arms. "Alright, Luffy it is."

* * *

"Alright, now you're dressed properly…somewhat properly," Ace mumbled the last part as he pulled his hands away from Luffy. The human was dressed in a new pair of shorts Ace had managed to snag from a clothesline in the village they had passed. They were large on him, but with a random piece of cloth, he was able to tie a belt around the boy's waist. He also had to roll up the bottoms of the shorts. He was planning to grab some shoes in the next since he couldn't find any where he had snatched the clothes. He had put one of his shirts on the boys' small frame and rolled up the sleeves so his hands could have some freedom. Ace had ripped the bottom off so he wouldn't trip, but it still went past his knees.

Luffy laughed, causing Ace to smile, before he ran off down the path. Ace stood and followed Luffy as the child ran around. When he heard rustling, he looked behind him with narrowed eyes. Seeing and hearing nothing, he turned back to Luffy, only for his eyes to widen and his mouth to open.

Luffy was gone, and a big bear stood in his place.

While Ace proceeded to kill every large animal that crossed his path looking for Luffy, wondering since when he began to care so much, said toddler was standing behind a tree and staring up at some men. They were dressed in black garb with swords and knives at their sides. They seemed to be arguing about the shiny gold stuff Luffy saw in their wagon. But what caught Luffy's eye was the red beaded necklace that was hanging off of the end of the wagon.

Without trying to be sneaky at all, Luffy ran past the arguing men, who still hadn't noticed his presence despite his tripping and stumbling, and got into the wagon. However, to do this, he had climbed on a block in front of the wheel and when he was over the wagon's edge, he had tipped it over.

Only when the wagon was heading down the hill that the men had stupidly put it on did the five realize that their wagon was missing. Luffy heard the men's shocked screams as he picked up the red beaded necklace and put it on. It was much too big for him, but he liked the color. An idea of what to do popped into his head and he looked around for the man caring for him, only to pout when he wasn't there.

The wagon bounced, causing Luffy to fall on his butt, and that was when he realized the wagon was moving. Luffy grinned and began to laugh as he put his hands in the air, squealing in joy as the wagon went down the hill.

He happened to pass Ace, whose eyes widened even more as he gaped. "Luffy?!" He yelled as he, along with the men, began to run after the wagon. He turned to the men next to him, easily recognized them as bandits, and tripped one, knocking them all over. He laughed to himself as they rolled down the hill, all running into trees, before he sprinted after Luffy and the wagon, which had somehow missed every single tree.

Ace paled a little when he saw the huge rock it was about to go over. He began to run even faster when everything in the wagon began to spill out as it flipped in the air, including Luffy. He jumped off of the rock and into the air, arms raised, and caught the young boy before falling to the ground, rolling a few times before coming to a stop.

Loud childish laughter filled his ears as Ace sat up and he glared at the toddler sitting on his stomach. Luffy giggled, hands over his mouth, before his eyes light up in remembrance. Ace watched as Luffy took his necklace off and slid it over Ace's head. Ace blinked at the red, beaded necklace with slight shock at the fact the child gave it to him before looking at the boy's big smile. Ace smiled back and hugged the boy with a "Thank you." It had been a long time since a human made him feel that happy, and he found he didn't mind the feeling.

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**AN: I know it hasn't been long, but I'm back! I already kind of know where this story is going, and I hope you guys are going to enjoy it. Not much happens this chapter, but next chapter will have more to it. Also, this chapter is very important, and you'll see why later on. **

**Anyway, thank you for reviewing! Please leave a review! I'd like to know what you guys think of this so far (even though it's only chapter one). Also, if you see any spelling/grammar errors or anything of the sort, please tell me!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Warnings: Violence, vampires, fluff, discrimination **

**Disclaimer: I do not own One Piece, which belongs to Eiichiro Oda, or **_Lullaby for a Stormy Night_ **by Vienna Teng. I own only the plot and words. **

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The thirst was burning his throat with a vengeance, worse than any fire could ever hope to burn.

Ace hadn't tasted the sweet liquid known as blood on his tongue since he had found Luffy. He was fine with drinking rum or eating meat raw to sate his insatiable lust for blood, but even with his long-learned control, this long, _weeks_ without blood was torture.

He wouldn't harm the little toddler toddling beside him. He refused to drink from him and also, for some reason, he didn't have that same smell all humans had that made his senses go into a flurry of ferocious hunger. He didn't know how much longer he could last without blood though. Everything was blurring together, becoming a huge, dark blob. Sounds were ringing and merging and he could just barely make out Luffy's babble next to him. He was too busy focusing on the sounds of the forest - animals snoring and fighting, water running, trees and brush rustling, and, to his delight, footsteps approaching.

He took off his cloak and dropped it over the boy, not wanting him to see what he was about to do. The toddler gave a startled yelp and began whining and moving around underneath the thick, black cloth. But Ace's attention was focused completely on the man before him.

Maybe he _should _have saved some blood bags on his hunt.

But then again, he was too thirsty to care.

With an animalistic growl, he launched himself forward in a blur of motion. He saw the man's startled expression and heard his scream right as he sunk his fangs into the tense muscles of his neck, aiming for his bloodstream. Arms and legs struggled, kicking at him, but his feet were planted firmly on the ground. He was immobile, a statue to the slowly more feeble attacks until they simply ceased. All breath left the man as Ace sucked him dry faster than he had done to a human in a long time.

Ace released the body once he was done, dragging his fangs out slowly as his grip on the corpse disappeared. The body fell to the ground, eyes bulging open and shirt drenched in his own blood. Ace wiped at his mouth and sighed. If only he had gotten blood sooner, maybe he wouldn't have killed anyone. But, what's done is done. It wasn't like he cared for the human anyway and he looked like a beggar, traveling and looking for nothing. He had the taste of alcohol in his blood as well, making Ace care less. It was so rich in the liquid that he must've been an alcoholic. Ace had seen plenty and he liked none.

He turned around when he remembered Luffy was there, looking up at him with innocent eyes from under the folds of the dark black cloak. The toddler stared up at him with wide eyes, blinking, as he let the cloak fall from his body. Ace frowned, expecting the child to start crying in fright at the sight of him - covered in blood, standing before a corpse, eyes glowing red with wide pupils, white fangs out for the world to see...

But the child only toddled closer and gripped onto his shorts, grinning up at him before raising his arms for Ace to pick him up. The elder's eyes widened in disbelief. He stood there, uncertain as to what to do. It didn't take long for the child to pout, whining with tears in his eyes. Ace snapped out of his surprise and lifted the small boy into his arms, blinking in shock once more when he snuggled himself into Ace's neck and let out a contented sigh. He then brought his arms around Ace's neck, yawned cutely, and fell asleep against the man.

Ace stared for a few moments, not knowing how to take this, before he grabbed the cloak, draped it over himself, and left with the small boy in his arms.

* * *

Ace loved the rain. He loved having the water fall down to the earth and pelt the ground in a rhythmic beat. Yes, he was a vampire who controlled fire, but that didn't mean he disliked water. In fact, he loved water, especially since he couldn't really get wet. His family found it strange he liked water so much, but he had loved it even before he became a vampire, so it wasn't odd in his eyes. He loved watching as it brought everything to life and how everything looked so much more alive after a rainstorm. He especially loved the thunder and lighting. It was like nature was playing its own beautiful song.

He quickly learned Luffy did not like thunder.

The two were walking in the storm. It wasn't pouring but it wasn't drizzling either. Ace didn't care about his clothes getting wet, as a vampire he couldn't get sick and he was fire so he couldn't get wet anyway. He knew Luffy could catch cold but he had medicines to heal him (he had stolen them from a previous town) and he was also only a few days away from home. Also, Luffy now had shoes and was wearing two of Ace's shirts that were clean that Ace had put on him to keep out the rain. Besides, the toddler was having fun jumping from puddle to puddle and playing in the mud. Ace followed the boy and smiled as the little human laughed and played in the dirt, chasing bugs that were trying to escape the rain.

Ace looked up at the flash of lightening and counted in his head, grinning when the loud boom went off. It reminded him of home and the loud pranks Thatch would always pull on Marco that sometimes he and Sabo got roped in to.

He looked down with worry when he heard a whimper, followed by a loud cry. He ran forward to Luffy and saw the younger wiping at his eyes. Ace's brows scrunched up in worry – he was shocked with how fast he warmed up to the toddler – as he picked him up and cradled him close.

"What's wrong, Luffy?" Ace asked as he rubbed the toddlers back, hoping to soothe him. "Did you step on something? Did you fall?" He didn't smell any blood, but he had to make sure. There was suddenly more lightening shortly followed by a boom. The loud sound caused Luffy's cries to get louder and Ace realized the cause of Luffy's cries.

Gently, Ace hushed him while holding him closer. He could feel the toddler trembling and it caused him to frown. He had no idea how to soothe the younger boy, as this was the first time in the two weeks he had heard the child cry. He tried to think of something to do to distract the small human as more thunder sounded and his cries and whimpers became more frequent. He was suddenly struck by an idea and told himself to remember to thank Haruta for forcing him to remember this song all those hundreds of years ago when they had last interacted with humans in a non-violent way.

"Little child, be not afraid,

Though rain pounds harshly against the glass

Like an unwanted stranger, there is no danger

I am here tonight.

Little child, be not afraid

Though thunder explodes and lightning flash

Illuminates your tear-stained face

I am here tonight

And someday you'll know

That nature is so

The same rain that draws you near me

Falls on rivers and land

On forests and sand

Makes the beautiful world that you'll see

In the morning…"

Ace continued to sing the song and smiled when he felt Luffy's cries slow to a stop. Only small whimpers were heard once in a short while as he sang softly to the child. Soon, the shaking subsided and Luffy only hiccupped once in a while. With big, watery red eyes he stared up at Ace. Ace smiled down at him and smoothed his hair down, beginning to hum the song.

The rain was now just falling in a drizzle. The leaves dripped with water as the puddles of mud and water in the street rippled with the occasionally drop of water. Sunlight from the setting sun was peaking out from behind the clouds, bathing them in an orange glow as the clouds disappeared.

Ace tipped his hat on his head to block out most of the sunlight then moved his hand back to Luffy's back. The young human's black eyes were drooping and Ace could hear that his heartbeat had slowed to a point where he knew the toddler would be asleep within seconds. Yet even after Luffy had drifted off to sleep, he continued to hum the song as he walked under the now shining stars and rising moon.

* * *

Ace stared at Luffy in shock. They were in a small town and had just left a store. When Ace was asking for directions to the next town, some other kids had come up and started harassing Luffy for no apparent reason (Ace just chalked it up to them being the same obnoxious, arrogant humans he always seemed to run into). Before Ace could do anything, the older kids had used a knife they had and cut at Luffy.

Blue blood fell from his skin.

Ace had no idea what this meant, as he had never seen or heard of blue blood. What he was shocked by was the reaction of the other humans. They all began screaming, shouting for his death, demanding to know why Ace had the young demon. Luffy looked calm despite the fear in his eyes, as if this had happened before.

He saw some villagers begin to run into their houses while others came out with weapons. Ace quickly snatched up Luffy and, using his powers, ran through the village into the woods at incredible speeds. He never liked using his powers in the presence of humans he wasn't hunting, but right now Luffy's life was more important.

When did he begin to care so much for this kid?

Once they were far from the village, Ace stopped. He knew they wouldn't find them out here. He looked down at the toddler in his arms, who was staring up at him with pleading, scared eyes. He babbled and held his arms up for Ace while tears formed in his eyes. Ace felt a long buried emotion build up – it was like when he was a child, shunned for being the son of Roger, told he shouldn't be alive just because of who he was.

Ace held Luffy close as the child trembled. He could smell Luffy's fear and most of all, he could smell Luffy's blood. But it wasn't a blood he wanted to drink. The smell was strange, not like normal blood. He wondered why the boy had it. He also knew now why he didn't feel any need to hunt the boy whenever his need for blood raged.

He was snapped out of his reverie by a pitiful whine. Ace realized he had to bandage the wound and moved to his knees, putting Luffy in front of him. He dug around in his watermelon-patterned bag and pulled out some alcohol and bandages. Luffy whimpered when he poured some alcohol on the wound and he tried to soothe the boy as he bandaged his arm. He quickly put the supplies away and hefted Luffy up again as he stood, walking quickly for home, wondering if he would find answers there.

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**AN: I can't believe I uploaded this next chapter so fast. But I was so happy with the reviews and everything and I know where this story is going and I'm really excited for this so - UPDATE! :D I feel really happy right now, and hyper. Anyway, I'm just gonna say that even though this has Vampires in it, it's not at all about Vampires. Also, we've had twist number one already. Plus, like my A Brother's Secret, this will slowly become more violent.**

**shadowmarialove: Thanks! And yes, yes he will. Ace has ****absolutely no idea what he just got himself into. I don't think there's going to be any pairings...aside from RogerxRouge come up later and DragonxOC shows up later too, but they're not really major. For now it's Acelu brotherly, but I might change it...I dunno yet. Hahaha no problem and good luck with the homework!**

**ichigi111kurosaki: I'm glad you like it! **

**Guest: I love them too! They're so cute together! Thank you :) This story will have lots of twists, so I hope you'll enjoy it. **

**spoons-are-evil: I'm excited too! I'm surprised I posted it so fast, but I was bored and I'm happy I did! And it's not going to focus on Vampires, and you've probably got a good idea as to why this chapter. I hope this doesn't become overly cliche. That wouldn't be good at all... I'll keep that in mind though! Thanks :)** **Yes, it was Blackbeard, and yes, he is dead. I didn't know how else to give Luffy his name and it seemed the most logical way. I'm glad you liked it! I really love writing extremely adorable or extremely sad/violent. Ace is totally clueless to the trouble he just brought upon himself. Luffy will cling onto him like a koala bear. I hope that you like this chapter! :)**

**Now I'm gonna go write more of this chapter...or take a walk...walk then write. I need to burn off my hyperness. If you see any errors, please tell me! Thank you so much for reading this chapter! Please leave a review - I love hearing what you guys think about the story! :)**


	3. Chapter 3

**Warnings: Vampires, fluff, possible OoC characters, mentions of violence**

**Disclaimer: I own only the plot and words. Eiichiro Oda owns One Piece.**

* * *

**Return: Subtle Changes of Life**

Ace's eyebrow twitched in annoyance as he stared at his family, who was staring at him with the strangest expressions he had ever seen on their faces – that was a long time considering his age. He looked down at giggling and saw Luffy smiling up at him. He grumbled something to the child no one else could hear but Luffy just laughed louder and latched onto his leg.

Ace was absolutely covered in honey and feathers, and they had no idea why. Ace would always hold Luffy to blame for this. The little brat had run off at the smell of food. He had knocked into a shelf and Ace, who had been walking after him lazily, not really caring about the trouble he might cause and not feeling like running, got drenched in the gooey golden liquid that had been knocked over. And then, of all things, the boy decided it would be funny to scare the crap out of the chickens. Ace didn't find it at all when their feathers were suddenly covering his body. But, at the same time, it brought back good memories. It only reminded them of that prank they had pulled on Marco five hundred years ago – they were never allowed to bring that up again. But this might break that rule.

Thatch broke the silence with a booming laugh and Ace glowered at him; if looks could kill Thatch would be dead. Sabo had a hand covering his mouth while Marco just looked at him with amused eyes. All of the other commanders looked at him in varying forms of amusement while everyone else was staring in shock. Pops was nowhere in sight.

"What in the – hahahahaha – hell happened to you?! Hahahaha!" Ace was sure his eyebrow would get a permanent twitch as he continued to glower at Thatch. He looked down when he felt tugging on his shorts. Luffy was whining and miming eating and Ace could faintly hear his stomach growling. With a sigh, he pulled his backpack off of his shoulder and reached into the bag – he shivered doing so and everyone had to wonder what happened to the inside of the bag while Ace wondered why the hell there was a honey covered egg in his bag – and handed some fruit to the toddler after wiping it off on his pants.

Everyone stopped even more then, Thatch even stopped laughing, because none of them had noticed the kid until that moment.

"Ace, where did the kid come from?" Marco asked as he watched the human toddler munch on the fruit he had been given. He only got a grunt in response as Ace stared down at the child, who had finished the fruit quickly and was now latched onto his leg again.

"Where's Pops?" The crowd parted in a path to Pops and Ace sighed before walking through. With a glance between each other, Marco, Thatch and Sabo followed.

Before Ace even knocked Pops door opened. He didn't close it, knowing his friends were behind him, and walked into the room with the three year old still attached to his leg.

"I killed the bastard two weeks and four days ago in a village that he had destroyed. If you're wondering about the kid, I honestly don't know why I brought him here, but something strange happened," The words flowed out of Ace's mouth as soon as the door closed, but all of them had to wonder what strange thing happened to him. They were vampires after all, and strange was hard to come upon.

Ace kneeled down, throwing a glare at Thatch who chuckled when Ace flinched at the feel of honey and feathers, and held the boy out in front of him. He whispered something to the boy and, with a sharp nail, poked his finger.

All of their eyes widened upon seeing the blue blood.

Ace quickly put a bandage over the wound when he was sure everyone had seen the strange color of his blood. He pet Luffy on the head and the child gave him a big smile. Ace then looked up at Whitebeard with questioning eyes. His brothers looked as well, thinking that maybe one of the oldest vampires in existence would have an answer for them. Whitebeard was silent as he stared down at the toddler and spoke only after a few tense minutes had passed.

"I have no idea what this may mean. In all of my years, I have not seen something as strange as this. However, he is welcome here because one should not be shunned for something as petty as blood."

* * *

It had been three days since Ace had returned with the child whose name was Luffy. The toddler was something different for all of them and they had to get used to caring for him and getting used to having a human around. They also had to try and not let him see the insanity that they truly were.

At the moment, all of the commanders and Sabo were watching over him as Whitebeard talked with some powerful allies nearby. Izo had made him some new clothing so now he had something to wear that actually fit him – a pair of shorts with white fluff at the bottoms and a tank top with a monkey face on it. He was holding a stuffed bunny in his hands as he stared with wide eyes at Haruta, who was trying to help teach him to speak.

"Can you say that? Bunny?" She pointed down at the toy in his arms but he only smiled and hugged it tightly with a giggle.

"It's going to take a long time, Haruta," Ace said from his seat at the nearby table. Everyone looked at him as he continued to talk about the boy. "I don't think anyone has ever talked directly to him before I met him. I don't even know how he survived since I don't think he had any family there." Haruta sighed as she looked at the toddler before her. He was looking at them all with curiosity before he looked up at the ceiling. A small spider came down and landed on his nose but he only laughed.

"He's a strange kid," Haruta said. Ace merely grunted.

"I think it's even stranger that you took the kid with you," Thatch said as he moved to sit on the floor since Luffy was trying to climb up his leg to reach something. He grinned at the kid when he began to play with his goatee. When he saw Ace flush, he teased him, saying, "You embarrassed that you care for a human now?"

"Shut up Thatch."

Stefan, the dog, suddenly ran into the room through the open door and they watched as a game of what seemed to be tag ensued between the three year old and the extremely old dog.

"I find it strange that he wasn't killed," Vista began to speak and everyone looked over at him as he divulged his thoughts to them. "That bastard never left a single human alive on his rampages. The fact that he missed one, and a child at that, is strange."

"It is weird, but we can't ask now. He's dead now," Ace stated as he was handed some rum to drink to stave off any bloodlust that was starting to make itself known through dilating pupils and trembling hands. After all, even for him, days without blood wasn't all too healthy or easy to control.

"Did he say anything odd before you killed him?" Sabo asked while leaning back in a chair and putting his feet on a table. Ace thought for a few moments while everyone was quiet before he blinked in remembrance.

"He said something about a monster, but he was actually pretty delusional. I think he was high off of blood, so he could've just been seeing things."

"We can't downplay anything odd he said, yoi," Marco said while moving from leaning on the wall to sit at a bench. "We don't want to run into any trouble with underestimating anyone again."

"Marco, you're being so serious. Lighten up!" Thatch said with a grin while Stefan padded over and began to drink out of his mug of rum, causing his fellow commanders to smother snickers when he didn't realize it. Ace had a hand over his mouth, holding back laughs when Thatch finally realized what was happening and began to whine and yell at the dog in an amusing manner while Stefan continued to drink his rum, when he felt some tugging on his shorts. Ace looked down at Luffy, who was grinning up at him. His eyes widened when he pulled out a flower, a pink hibiscus to be exact.

"Where did you get this, Luffy?" Ace asked as the toddler held the flower for him to take. All of the commanders looked over at him with confusion.

"What's with the flower?" Jozu asked, voicing everyone's question.

"I don't know, but there's no hibiscus' near here, I know that for sure, and we don't have any flowers growing inside…where did you get this, Luffy?" He repeated his question as he looked up from staring at the flower. Luffy merely smiled at him before latching onto his leg again and sitting on his foot. Ace sighed while the other commanders gave quiet chuckles. He decided to ask where the flower came from later.

* * *

Ace watched from his seat as Thatch let Luffy try some of the food. The human was held up by one of Thatch's arms, held off of his hip. Thatch would blow on the spoon of steaming soup or the fork of hot meat before letting the toddler try some. Thatch was always like that with kids, caring and kind – he loved kids.

Thatch, Fourth Division Commander, was 863 years old. He was always a smart ass and he loved to play jokes and pranks, most often on Marco. When he was a human, that was how his younger siblings and the kids he adopted would cheer him up – with pranks. But after what had happened to them, he began to pull pranks. He always pulled them when he thought Marco or anyone on the ship was stressed.

Around 830 years ago, Thatch lived in a small village in the middle of nowhere. He lived in a house on the outskirts of town with his siblings who were all ten or more years younger than him. Occasionally, when he would travel from one town to another, he would find an orphaned child. Being the kind man he was, he would bring them home with him. He was sort of like an orphanage owner. He had been doing that for ten years and somehow, through a miracle, was able to keep food in the mouths of everyone – at one time, twenty people were in that small house. So, to cheer him up, the kids and his siblings would pull pranks on him. He loved his life because he had everything he ever wanted.

Then there was the fire. One day, he returned from one of his trips and saw his village set ablaze. He heard the screams as he saw men going through the village, slaughtering everyone and anyone there. He ran for his home, hoping they hadn't seen the house. When he got there, the house was destroyed and his family and the kids had been burned to ash. He went into a rampage then, going to kill the men who had destroyed his home, only to find out they were vampires. He lost that fight and was turned and ever since, he has been looking for those culprits who had managed to hide for all of those hundreds of years.

Now, Thatch was the prankster of the ship. Anything strange that made people laugh and made Marco angry was likely the work of Thatch. Missions were the only exception. On missions, he was cold and calculating and at times sadistic. His sadistic tendencies frightened Ace at first, but he got used to it. This, however, the tender side he was showing to Luffy, was rare. Ace had to wonder how bringing Luffy home would change their family's dynamics.

"Sach! Sach!" Ace looked up from his small meal when he heard Luffy whining. He was trying to reach for some food that Thatch was withholding from him. Ace held back a laugh as Thatch didn't give in and told him to wait, resulting in the boy pouting. The man was making dinner. Not that all of them needed it, but meat kept the blood lust at bay.

"Reminds me of you when you were a kid," Ace said as he ruffled the blond hair of the teen sitting on the floor next to his stool. His hand was swatted away and he only laughed at the expression on the others face – it was a pout but the teen would always say it was a frown.

"I was not whiny like that."

"Whatever you say, Sabo."

Sabo was the youngest vampire in their group, only around 150 years old. They found him abandoned when he was five and took him in because he knew about some vampires they were hunting. They never expected to grow attached to the blond human but they did and he stayed with them. He was never going to be a vampire – none of them had good stories behind their turning – and he didn't want to be one. He enjoyed being human, even if his family didn't age with him. But one day he grew deathly ill and he didn't want to die. They had agreed to turn him.

His first few months were rocky and Ace can remember having to force him to feed since the younger a vampire is, the more blood they need. He would have terrible mood swings and would sometimes lock himself away in his room. But, over time, he managed to accept it and now somewhat enjoyed life as a vampire. He was glad to be away from humans, too, as he remembered several things from his early childhood after a few weeks and came to detest most humans, mainly his parents.

"Ace, is it weird for him to have blue blood?" Sabo asked as he listened to Thatch cooking while Luffy babbled to him in a non-understandable gibberish.

"I can tell you I've never seen it before. Did you find anything about it in your books?" Sabo was one of their top information finders. He knew just about everything about anything. He always started (and ended) rumors and gossip within their family and within just minutes or even seconds of a battle he could find his opponents weakness.

"Nothing in old books, but books with no date go off ranting about blue blooded devils, bloodless demons, monsters with wings, and inhuman bastards. I couldn't find anything really substantial. I was thinking we could maybe find Nico Robin for help."

"That's a good idea. We'll have to bring it up to Pops at the next meeting."

Ace looked back down when he heard an 'oof' and saw that Luffy had jumped into Sabo's lap. He smiled when Sabo pat the younger on the head, causing Luffy to giggle and squirm.

"Doesn't matter who he is though," Sabo said and Ace nodded in agreement, finishing off the last of his meal. No matter what Luffy really was, he would stay with them.

* * *

**AN: Hello again! This chapter was mostly all fluff and talk and not much happens, but it's necessary. (Plus I like writing little!Luffy.)**

**luffylova: Thank you so much! All will be revealed in due time, do not worry. :)**

**Callie982: Thanks! I'm glad you like it! :)**

**spoons-are-evil: I'm so sorry that you already have an essay. That's just evil of your teacher. Who does that?! Anyway, I'm glad you like the chapter. I love writing their interactions because I adore little!Luffy to bits. I can't say anything about your theory, but that's a good theory. You'll see everything later and it will (hopefully) make sense then. And no, that was a lullaby by Vienna Teng. I forget the name but it's written in last chapter's disclaimer. It's much longer, but I was lazy. Thank you so much! :)**

**Alrighty. I'm really happy today again like yesterday. But I'm also exhausted. I'm gonna go be lazy and eat for the rest of this lovely evening. Thank you so very much for reading this story! Please leave a review! I love to hear any thoughts you have! :D (And, once again, please tell me if you see any errors whatsoever in the story.)**


	4. Chapter 4

**Warnings: Mentions of violence, blood, vampires, fluff, possible OoC Characters**

**Disclaimer: Eiichiro Oda owns One Piece, not me!**

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**Life: The Affects of Living Together - Try to Hide Your Dark Side**

Sabo inhaled a deep breath as satisfaction coursed through his veins. The blood of his victim drenched his front as it fell to the ground, unconscious. He stared down with emotionless eyes, not at all caring for the human. He had found his victim harassing others with glee. It disgusted Sabo to no end to see him do so. It was why he chose him as his meal – he could make it hurt where it hurt most.

Sabo blinked when he heard footsteps behind him. There stood Marco, wiping some blood from his own mouth. He looked nowhere near as messy or satisfied as Sabo, but there was a pleased look in his eyes and the scent of iron was thick in his breath.

"How'd your hunt go?" Sabo asked, slightly sarcastic, knowing that the night's catch wasn't the best. Marco chuckled.

"Okay. Not the best, but it was good. How about you, yoi?"

Sabo shrugged. "Same as always."

Marco nodded and the two began to walk down the alleyway, Sabo following behind him, when he heard a distant, surprised yelp. Marco turned, staring down the alleyway, when he heard Ace shout something. He sighed and disappeared in the blink of an eye, Sabo groaning lightly before following after him.

It wasn't a long run through the maze of buildings, but they managed to find Ace quick enough. When they found him, he was grumbling under his breath, holding Luffy up by the collar of his shirt. The boy was a whimpering, sobbing mess with cuts on his knees, elbows and hands. There was the distant sound of barking and yelping in the distance, getting further and further away with each second. Marco sighed while Sabo raised an eyebrow.

"What happened here?"

Ace took a heavy breath, his fingers holding the bridge of his nose. "I was hunting and for some reason Luffy wasn't on the ship. Luffy saw some dogs, wanted to pet them, and of course they weren't exactly tame beasts, the little shits."

"Language, Ace," Marco said, cuffing him lightly over the side of his head. Ace grumbled once more, annoyed, before hefting the boy up to his side. Marco inwardly scolded himself when he realized both him and Sabo stood before the boy, drenched in blood and probably looking like the menacing monsters they were before and after a hunt. He hoped that the didn't scare the boy even more.

Ace wiped away some of the boy's tears and began to make a soothing humming sound. The boy hiccupped and sniffled and Ace sighed once more before giving a soft smile and moving him closer to his chest. The boy leaned against him with a contented noise, eyes drooping with exhaustion from his slowly dying cries. Next to him, Marco and Sabo chuckled. Ace looked up at them with a half hearted glare.

"What are you laughing about?"

"You're acting so caring and cuddly Ace. We've never really seen you acting like this before," Sabo said with a teasing smile, punching Ace playfully on the shoulder. Ace flushed with embarrassment, causing Sabo to laugh. Marco smiled fondly at the two younger vampires and the small toddler in Ace's arms, who was now staring at the three men with large, innocent, curious eyes.

Marco watched, slightly stunned, as the boy reached out for the red liquid that stained Sabo's shirt. They all stopped as he touched it without much expression before looking up at them all and, for some incomprehensible reason, smiled widely at them.

Marco was the first to react, sighing quietly and smiling softly at the young boy before he lifted him out of the hungry vampire's arms.

"You haven't fed yet, right, Ace? Go hunt, yoi. We'll take him back to the ship." Marco shifted the boy so he sat off of his hip while he waved off the other vampire. Ace nodded dumbly after a few moments of stunned silence and then walked off to the crowd of humans, mingling with no clue as to what was happening within the valley of buildings.

"He's changing."

Nothing would make Marco disagree with Sabo's statement, especially since it might be for the better. Maybe Ace was finally learning to love humans again.

Maybe they were all learning to love humans again.

* * *

Marco frowned when he heard the young human sneeze. The toddler in his arms had red eyes, a running nose and a pale complexion. It was disconcerting since he was so young and they hadn't had anyone sick in a long time. When they got sick, it was from being in the sun for too long. Their doctor had to read through some books to remember how to treat kids for being sick.

Right now, most people were out on the island. It had been a month since Ace returned with Luffy so they had set sail again and were now at an inhabited island that they hoped had a doctor who wouldn't mind having to be among vampires.

Marco looked down when he felt a tug on his shirt and he heard Luffy whisper "Wawa." Marco gave a soft sigh as he moved to the kitchen to find some water for the child. He sat down after finding a cup and carefully poured the liquid down the three year olds throat before wrapping him tighter in the blanket he was in. He looked up at Marco and gave him a big grin despite his wheezing, causing Marco to blink in slight shock before smiling back and running a hand through the toddler's hair. He began to walk back to Luffy's room, thinking the whole while.

They had been searching for answers about Luffy's blood for a while but were unable to find anything. There were no records of blue blood and no other supernatural creatures like themselves knew anything about such a phenomenon. Every witch they had confided in had never heard of such a thing and said it should be impossible. They had no idea who wrote the books Sabo had read – and those books had somehow, mysteriously, disappeared – and they couldn't find any ancient vampires like Whitebeard nearby for help.

Marco quietly opened the door to Luffy's small bedroom. It was simple with a bed, some baskets filled with some clothes and a few handmade toys from the crew spread out on the floor. He stepped over the brightly colored objects and made it to the small bed, lowering the toddler to it gently. He picked up a stuffed bunny from the floor and handed it to him, giving a small smile when the human beamed at him. He made to leave but stopped when he felt a tug on his shirt sleeve. He knelt back down and looked at the boy curiously. He was surprised when the human gave him a peck on the forehead. The boy laughed and he ruffled the kid's hair. Ace had said that he sometimes did that; maybe as his way of saying thank you without speaking. Marco, for a reason he didn't quite understand himself, then stayed with him until he was asleep, telling him a story the whole while in a soft voice to lull him to sleep.

* * *

Ace puffed out a breath of smoke as his cigarette dangled precariously between two of his fingers. He was staring out over the night sky of the ocean, the moon shining brightly above as the sun set in the distance. Unlike what many people thought, they wouldn't burn within seconds in the sun. They could travel for about three hours without getting sunburnt. After three hours though, if they didn't find protection, they began to die a slow and painful death from sun poisoning, hence why they became practically nocturnal. And it didn't help that the only hours the sun wasn't too hot were in early morning or dusk. If you were out at noon, three hours became one, and death would come five times as fast.

Only when the moon was in the sky at the same time as the sun could Ace be under the sun for more than three hours, but those moments were rare. He had to wonder if, because of their weakness, Luffy would grow up as a nocturnal human. He didn't want that for the boy, but they had no other way to watch over him for long periods of time during the day without dying. It was impossible for them to stay in the sun from eight in the morning to four in the afternoon.

"What's wrong, Ace?" Ace looked behind him and saw his father move to sit in his chair, a huge mug of rum in his hands. Ace sighed.

"Can we really raise him? Or was it a mistake to have picked him up? Times are different from when we took in Sabo."

Whitebeard was silent as he took in Ace's worries. Very true, the times were very different. Back when they took in Sabo been during the Dark Age – the sun and moon were blocked in the sky for fifty years and none knew why. Only the clouds were visible, allowing the creatures of the night to roam freely. Mass starvation, corruption, myth, death and illness ran rampant for humans and it was the last time any vampire was able to walk under the sky during the mid hours of the day.

"I believe this is better than him having died though. Don't you think so, Ace?"

Ace merely looked back at the ocean, thinking deeply and silently agreeing without words.

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**AN: Kind of short. A little more seriousness in this chapter as well. More Vampire-isms will be showing up in later chapters. Still, hope you guys liked it :)**

**youshouldn'tneedtoknow: Thanks! :)**

**spoons-are-evil: That sounds like a fun essay to write! I hope I get essay's like that this year. Formally informal are some of the best essays out there. I love reading them and picking up on the ****sarcasm. And you don't rant a lot at all! You don't want to hear me rant though - I can go for a long time. Hahaha, when I wrote that scene, I imagined his eyebrow twitching. And I had to put in one bird joke. Marco without bird jokes just is _not _Marco. Hmmmm. I can't answer any of your theories, but you will definitely see what it all means in the future! Your 100% right with the hibiscus though! Rouge is dead and Luffy can communicate with the dead. But if I say any more, I will spoil it for you and I don't wanna do that, so you'll just have to wait and see! And I try and do that too. The theories in my head for the stories I'm reading can go off and make their own story sometimes... I felt it important to put in some backstory since the crew will be playing a big part in this story. You'll see some more later too! Thank you! :)**

**luffylova: hahaha thank you! :D You'll see what he is in the future.**

**Callie982: I'm glad you liked it! :)**

**MysticMaiden 18: Thank you so much! I'm glad you like them! Here's the update. :)**

**I hope you guys like the chapter! Thanks for reading! Please leave a review! :)**


	5. Chapter 5

**Warnings: Fluff, vampires, violence, blood, murder**

**Disclaimer: Eiichiro Oda owns One Piece but I own my words and the plot!**

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**No more adjusting: I can't imagine life without you; I'll protect you**

"Asce! Ace!" Luffy ran up to the man whose name he could just barely pronounce correctly, his favorite person in his so far small world. He hugged one of his legs and grinned up at the very tall man.

"What is it Lu?" Ace smiled at Luffy. His name was Luffy's first word and last night he had said it in front of most of the ship at dinner. The ruckus caused after hearing their youngest speak his first word was great, causing the crew to have a party, and Ace had snuck Luffy some extra food out of pure joy.

He blinked when the toddler pulled another hibiscus out of seemingly nowhere. He realized he never did ask where he found it.

Ace kneeled before the human and took the flower with a gentle hand while the other ran through the younger's hair. "Luffy, where did you get this?" Luffy beamed up at him before poking at Ace's freckles. Ace blinked again before sighing, realizing that Luffy probably still did not understand what he said or couldn't respond. He smiled at Luffy as he brought up two hands to his face, obviously wanting to be held up. Ace kissed his palms fondly, causing the younger to giggle, before hoisting him up and holding him at his side and walked to the deck where everyone else was, listening to him try to talk the whole time with attentive ears.

* * *

"Mac! Mac! Fassa! Fassa!" Luffy laughed, pulling on the blond hair that was right before his small hands. Marco sighed as he walked across the deck, making his way to the figurehead.

"We're almost there Luffy. Wait a minute, alright?" Marco said with exasperation. Luffy whined at the response, continuing to mumble "fassa" to try and get Marco to do as he demanded. Marco gave a small chuckle at the toddler's predictable response. The kid was quite the impatient human. Honestly, Marco himself wanted to go faster but the deck was wet and most of the crew was on it. He didn't want to bump into anyone or slip and drop the little boy.

When Marco reaches the figurehead, he lifts Luffy off of his shoulders and slowly sits him down on the painted wood before joining him. Once he is sitting down, he pulls the rambunctious, trouble making toddler into his lap. Luffy whines and squirms, obviously wanting to run around on the wood, but Marco doesn't relent and the boy is forced to stay put.

"Luffy, do you like the ocean?" Marco asks, gesturing out to the large expanse of blue sea. The boy blinks his large eyes up at him before turning his head down to look out at the horizon. He's quiet for a few moments and Marco can feel him relaxing in his lap.

"Puhty," He says with fascinated eyes. Marco gives the boy a soft smile.

"It's very pretty."

They sit there in silence for a while, Luffy just staring out at the ocean in awe while Marco revels in the fact that for once the young boy isn't in any sort of trouble. Not a long time later, though, he turns his head back upon hearing footsteps that he has come to know by heart over the years.

"Don't you guys have chores to do right now?" Marco asked, looking at the three younger vampires. Thatch just grins at him.

"We finished up early."

They join the blond and black haired duo sitting on the figurehead. Luffy doesn't even seem to notice their arrival, which is odd for him since normally he is constantly looking for their company. Ace smiled at the boy's fascination and reached a hand out, running it through the short, unruly locks. Luffy blinked and looked up at him then before grinning widely and crawling out of Marco's lap to hug Ace. Ace chuckled as he slung and arm around the boy, holding him closer as he twisted in his grip to look at the ocean once more.

They were all quiet. The four vampires always found something soothing when they watched the sea, as if the salty water could wash away all of their mistakes, their past...everything. They were all snapped out of it by Luffy's voice, sounding surprised and excited.

"Ace! Ace! Wha tat?" Luffy was pointing frantically at the sky while pulling on Ace's hair. The vampires looked up and were all in confused awe.

"Aurora borealis," Ace whispered, smiling toothily up at the sky. "It's been ages since I've seen this."

"It's been a long time since we've been north, yoi."

Thatch just grinned as Sabo stared up at the sky, awed. It really had been a long time since they'd been north. Sabo hadn't seen it before as well and looked much younger in that moment, excited with a wide smile like Luffy.

"This really is freedom," Ace said, grinning out at the ocean. Luffy looked up at him with curious eyes, causing Ace's grin to grow. "It means you can do whatever you want to do."

Luffy smiled, very much liking that idea.

* * *

It had been one year since Luffy had come into their lives, and everything had changed drastically. They would let him play outside in the early morning and late evening, when the sun and moon were both in the sky. They had to childproof many rooms after discovering how accident prone the child was. They always had to have someone on "Luffy Duty" as they called it, so he wouldn't get into too much trouble since trouble was inevitable with the boy. They also had to be careful of their language around the boy because if humans heard him say swears it would cause chaos when they docked. Not only that, but Luffy could very easily pick up words and could never tell a lie to save his life, something they learned through many trial and error mistakes on their own part (especially when it came to pranks).

He could say almost everyone's names now, too. He still got lost constantly and trouble seemed to follow him like a shadow – there was an incident involving flour after he somehow snuck into the kitchen, another involving several barrels of rum and some missing matches (which, really, was their own mistake for leaving some matches in his reaching range), one having to do with the ships ropes, then there was a time he got into the weapons storage room – and the list just continued on.

Luffy had also given them something that was missing for their lives for many years, something that they hadn't felt since Sabo was a kid and even longer before that. They felt accepted by a human, and they were pretty sure that Luffy knew what they were. He had seen them drink blood and didn't shrink back in fear like most humans would. He didn't tremble at the sight of their red eyes and he wasn't scared to touch their fangs. He didn't cry in those moments he saw them hunt, which were often gruesome moments. Even when Sabo had been a child, it took him a solid year or two to not be frightened of these acts. So when Luffy blatantly gave them huge grins even when they were covered in blood and called their names with a voice so full of joy, it was no surprise that their long dead hearts seemed to beat. For that very reason, they all had a silent agreement to hurt anyone who hurt the young boy.

At the same time, they unknowingly gave something back to Luffy, more than a family. They had realized that he didn't seem to like humans and knew that the pirates were not human. He also only ever panicked if he saw them bleed, not a human. He cared for them and only them, something they enjoyed but didn't quite understand. They learned why one unfortunate day when he went missing on a small, nameless island they had docked on; it was something they wished had never happened but also opened their eyes to what the humans really thought of the ever mysterious toddler with blue blood.

"Luffy! Where are you?" Thatch yelled out, cupping his mouth with his hands. He didn't hear any laughing that would normally be heard when Luffy was coming - wobbling steps, giggling, garbled "Thatch!" - and he sighed, walking at a faster pace and expanding his senses. They had landed three days ago on this island and today they had brought Luffy to the small town on the other side of it. He had gotten injured once in town and the people had been slightly more hostile since seeing his blood. The vampires didn't expect anything to happen - the boy was with vampires after all and messing with vampires was utterly stupid. But, sometime in the early night when they had been talking with the villagers or spread out in the bars, the boy had gone missing.

Right now, it was a wild search for him. Normally, they could find out where he was when they heard sounds that just sounded like it would be comic trouble, but after three hours and no such sound, they realized that something was seriously wrong.

Thatch was the only one on this part of the island, the other side of the mountains that were spread around it. That was because they doubted he could get that far. But Thatch had a feeling, and whenever he said that they let him do as he wished. Some of the others had offered to go with him, but he said he wanted to go alone. Reluctantly, they allowed him to do so. They were left to search the human inhabited parts of town while Thatch scoured the part inhabited by animals, full of predators like themselves. It wouldn't be a problem for the man though.

Thatch was about to call out Luffy's name again when he heard a pitiful, pained cry. He froze in place, trying to make sure he had heard right. Then he heard voices of some adult humans - laughing, jeering, sneering, taunting - followed once again by a cry belonging to a child.

His instincts heightened; his eyes turned red, his nails sharpened and his fangs bore themselves to the world. He allowed every single scent within a mile to enter his nostrils as he tuned in to every single sound – the buzz of a fly's wings, some animals in heat in the distance, the rustling of trees in the wind and worst of all, the sound of metal on flesh and scared, pained cries.

He traveled the half mile distance in two seconds, seeming to have disappeared and reappeared again from thin air. He stood on a short cliff, staring down at the sight below him. There were some humans there, ones that said they had work to do four hours prior, hurting Luffy. Fists, kicks, metal pipes, flaming logs and a bucket of water. He watched a middle aged, grotesque man grab the four year old by his hair and stuck his head in the water. The humans just laughed.

Thatch pulled out his swords and attacked. It was bloody and the scent of iron filled the air as, with one strike, he chopped the head off of one of them. Blood was splattered across the dirt ground as the other men looked up, horrified, upon seeing a vampire standing there, crouched and furious. The blood was making his senses run wild, but right now his protective instinct overrode it all.

He had to kill, _kill_, _**kill**._

_Make them pay._

_"THATCH!"_

He heard several screams and shouts of fear, some yelling out "Monster!" as he ruthlessly attacked. He turned around and with a quick jab stabbed a human in the gut. The rock the human held above his head fell to the ground with a dull thud. Thatch retracted his sword and allowed the man to do the same as the rock.

He ducked and easily avoided a few bullets aimed at his head and ran at the man who shot at him. He was shaking as he dropped his gun to the ground, brought his hands up to protect himself and loudly begged for his life. Thatch took no mercy on him and instead chopped his arm off. He ignored the man's screams, inwardly finding delight in them, as he began to attack the others.

Within five minutes, he stood surrounded by human bodies. Some were alive and some were dead, but then he remembered why he was there. He cursed to himself for letting his predator instincts fog his mind and ran over to Luffy, who was curled up in a trembling ball on the ground.

"Luffy, I'm here Luffy. I got you," Thatch whispered to the boy as he slowly picked him up into his arms. Luffy's blue life supply fell slowly from the cuts and wounds on his body. He was covered in bruises and dirt and dried blood. Thatch kissed his forehead and held him close as he sobbed.

"Thatch…Thatch…hurts…hurt…" Luffy whimpered between sobs and hiccups. Thatch gently shushed him and rubbed his back, hoping to calm him as he quickly left he bloody scene behind him and headed straight for the ship. Small hands gripped his red stained shirt as wet tears and blue blood stained the once immaculate white material, turning it a dark purple.

"Don't worry Luffy. I got you," Thatch murmured in his ear as he began to hum, hoping it would calm the boy. He hummed for a long time, until they reached the ship. But still, it worked and eventually Luffy was only shivering once in a while with the occasional hiccup or sniffle. Thatch also knew he was the last one back, since they had agreed to meet a half hour ago if they didn't find him.

The second he stepped onto the ship and everyone saw the state that him and Luffy were in, chaos ensued. Part of the crew began to prepare to set sail with orders from Pops while several others crowded around the two of them. Normally they would go get revenge, but the blood on Thatch's body was all they needed to know it was unnecessary. Then the other commanders intervened and quickly brought them downstairs, out of the overwhelming crowd which was quickly distressing Luffy.

They entered a small meeting room in the lower decks of the ship. Izo ran in last with clothes for the both of them. Thatch tore off his blood stained shirt and let it fall to the ground. He sat down in a chair as Kingdew brought him a wet towel for him to wipe his face. Nearby, Marco and Ace were trying to clean and calm Luffy.

"What happened?" Sabo asked as he slipped into the room. Everyone looked at Thatch as he put his face into his hands. He could remember clearly what one of the men said to him right before he killed him.

_"Why would even you monsters defend a blue blood? He's more demonic than you creatures of the night could ever be."_

"His blood. It has to do with his blood. They called him a demon…" He trailed off as he let the towel fall to the ground and took a shirt Izo handed him with a quiet thanks. Everyone was serious now, as this was the second time something having to do with his odd blood color had happened – earlier, Ace had told them what had happened two weeks after he found Luffy as a forewarning of the possibility of something worse happened. They just never thought that it _would_ happen.

"Marco," The eldest and strongest commander looked up at their father. "Find out why the humans fear the blue bloods." Marco merely nodded and then disappeared in a flash of blue.

Later that night, Ace closed Luffy's door behind him quietly. The young child was in his arms, on the verge of sleep. Ace moved to sit on his bed as his ears tuned into the rain falling on the ocean outside of the thick ship walls. He hummed to the boy quietly and rubbed his back, hoping to lull him to sleep. He leaned his head down and kissed the mop of black hair. Luffy snuggled deeper into him then, and Ace could faintly hear him mumbling his name in his sleep. Ace gave a small smile and carefully put him under his covers. He softly moved some of his bangs out of his face as he thought back to the day he first met Luffy. Maybe, instead of tearing him from his loved ones that day, Luffy was saved from the other humans.

Ace pulled the blankets to his chin before quietly walking out the door. When Marco returned that evening and they asked about his findings, they were dismayed when he said that no answers had been found.

* * *

**AN: Hello! So, this was definitely more violent than the other chapters. I hope the fluff somewhat made up for it. But, now you all have a better idea of what the red blooded humans really think of lil' Lu. It'll all make sense later!**

**Just thought I'd say this about the vampires now. As you can see with Thatch, he's scared by his past. They all are and they aren't the most sane of people out there. It becomes much easier to tell when they're violent, as Thatch was here. And the scream was not Luffy, it was one of his siblings who was killed all those years ago. He has flashbacks and all of the vampires may have small ones from time to time.**

**youshouldn'tneedtoknow: Hahaha, he is being mysterious. He has a reason though, which will be coming up soon. I'm glad you think that - I love writing cute Luffy. You'll start getting an idea of who he is in upcoming chapters, but it won't be entirely clear for a while, just hints.**

**luffylova: Thanks! It's hard, but I like the challenge and updating fast. Keeps me motivated. :) hehehe, that makes me happy. I hope you'll like the answer when you learn what he is.**

**shadowmarialove: Hahaha, thanks! And yes, it does. You get an idea of why here, but it'll become more apparent why later on. Maybe he is, maybe he isn't. I don't wanna spoil it for you. I hope you like this chapter! :)**

**I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter! Please leave a review! I love knowing what you guys think! :)**


	6. Chapter 6

**Warnings: Antics, fluff, possible OoC characters, mentions of violence/murder**

**Disclaimer: Eiichiro Oda owns One Piece, not me! But I do own my words and the plot!**

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**Don't ruin my normal even if my normal isn't exactly normal**

"Shhh, Luffy! We can't get caught!" Sabo whispered as he grinned at the only person younger than him on the ship. Luffy grinned and brought up both hands to try and stifle his giggles. Both Sabo and Luffy peeked out from behind the wall they were against. The door opened and then, two seconds later, they heard startled shouts along with a girly yelp after a loud splash had occurred followed by a big bang. Sabo bit his lower lip to stifle his laughter.

Ace, Marco, Thatch, Izo, Haruta and several others were now dyed all colors of the rainbow with glitter and feathers covering their bodies. Sabo was so sure they were going to get away with this –

Luffy let a giggle lose.

Sabo paled as several pairs of furious eyes turned towards the two.

"Run Luffy!" Sabo took off sprinting down the hall, quickly followed by a laughing Luffy. His little brother obviously did_ not_ understand how angry the other commanders were for being dyed red, orange, yellow, green, blue and purple and then dressed in glitters and feathers.

"SABO!" Marco, Thatch, Haruta and the majority of the commanders ran after the ships' number one prankster.

"You'll never catch me!" He cackled as he ran up the stairs to the next floor, determined on losing them on this maze of a ship. Meanwhile, Ace turned his eyes to the four year old who snuck into the closest room. He grinned as he walked to the door. He honestly didn't mind being dyed in paint, he did it to the commanders before 600 something years ago and several times since and it wasn't like it hadn't happened to him before, but he had to admit the glitter and feathers were a nice touch.

Ace entered the dark room and heard giggles from the far wall. However, he just whistled and began to search, saying "Oh, I wonder where Luffy is?" and other such things in a joking, teasing voice that just made him hear more muffled giggles. He looked in barrels, under tables and behind counters. But as he neared the window on the other side of the room and saw small feet at the bottom of the huge curtains, he hummed loudly in thought. "I wonder where Luffy could be?" He waited five more seconds, hearing more giggles, then yanked the curtain open and picked up the boy, holding him out from his body so he wouldn't get covered in too much paint. "Got you," He said in a singsong voice.

Luffy pouted at him and stuck out his tongue, saying "Stinky Ace!"

"Ohohoho, getting cocky now, are we? How do you like this?" Ace moved him to his hip and with his free hand began to tickle him mercilessly. The young human squirmed and laughed loudly in his grasp as Ace tickled his feet, legs, stomach, arms and armpits. After several minutes of the tickling, Luffy leaned against his chest, not caring about getting paint all over his body.

"Shishishi, rainbow Ace!" He laughed as he played with the still wet paint, making poorly drawn pictures on his body.

"No thanks to you and Sabo," Ace teased with a huge grin on his face. Then he let Luffy down and took his hand. "C'mon, let's go clean up."

"Uhn!" Luffy nodded his head and tightly gripped onto Ace's hand as they walked out of the room, talking about Sabo's prank the whole time.

* * *

Whitebeard was holding the small human on his ship in one of his large hands as he sat in his chair. His children were currently exploring the island they had docked on and he was to stay back on the ship anyway, but then he found his youngest very ill. Whitebeard had been walking the halls of the ship when he found the four year old, who was supposed to be napping in his room, on the ground, crying and throwing up and trembling as he sobbed while calling out various crew members names. He had quickly cleaned the mess before taking the sick child onto the main deck with him.

Currently, Luffy was leaning against his chest on his lap, being supported by his large hand as well. He was pale save for his rosy cheeks and his breathing was ragged. Whitebeard could hear his labored breaths and every once in a while tried to help him swallow down some water to soothe his throat.

He had gotten sick last year too. Whitebeard wondered if the ship was just too dirty but then they would probably know. Luffy was human and if he got sick constantly they would figure that there was something wrong on the ship since as vampires, they could only get ill from the sun and silver.

"Papa," Luffy wheezed. He looked down at his youngest and ran a soothing finger down his back.

"Are you alright, Luffy?" He asked in his deep gruff voice. Luffy smiled up at him as if he wasn't sick at all and snuggled deeper into him.

"Happy. Wanna stay."

"You can stay as long as you want Luffy," Whitebeard replied. He felt the human nod before his breathing turned from labored breaths into slightly heavy yet soft snores. He held Luffy there the rest of the night until his family had returned and they began to fret over his illness. He watched with fond eyes, realizing definitely not for the first time and definitely not the last that they got along better than most blood siblings.

* * *

"Izo, why a dress?" The cross dresser looked down at the innocent voice and saw his recently turned five year old brother holding onto his kimono with confused eyes. "Dress for lady?"

"I am not a lady, Luffy, and this is not a dress. This is a kimono," He replied as he pat the younger on the head.

"Look dress," Luffy replied as he gently tugged on the fabric on Izo's body.

"It is not a dress Luffy," Izo sighed in mild irritation, turning back to his sewing.

"Mystery?" The boy tilted his head to the side with his wide eyes staring at him, his mouth parted slightly in curiosity. Izo sighed before he chuckled and pat him on the head.

"Yeah, it's a mystery."

Luffy giggled as Izo continued to patch up one of his shirts. Sewing was calming for him – it reminded him of his late mother from 900 years ago. He was often told he had a complex about women by people who knew nothing of his past. He would always beat them up after – they didn't know what they were talking about.

He had been the youngest child and only son in a family with a father, mother and four older sisters. His father raised him to respect women and his sisters and mother taught him what love truly was. They also taught him how to dance, a family tradition for all genders. He didn't like his part as a male, but he loved watching his sisters and mother dance. They were so beautiful and elegant and when his eldest sister sang as well, it could draw tears to his eyes.

The last time he ever saw them they were dancing. He was thirteen years old when a man came and mercilessly slaughtered his whole family in the middle of their daily practice. His family had saved him, shoving him into a closet as they were ripped apart by his sword. When he finally had the courage to leave it, he saw the blood and promptly threw up until he coughed up blood.

For the next twenty years, he had done anything to find out who had murdered his family. He used his dancing skills from his mother to seduce others and used his sharpshooter skills from his father to kill anyone who got in his way. When he finally found the man who slaughtered them, he was already dead – buried six feet under after the island's ruler had him executed.

Izo thought he had nothing to live for, and then a vampire turned him for fun. If Marco hadn't found him that day, Izo might have never lived this long.

He kept his family in mind by making clothes, something his sisters enjoyed doing and did for him all the time. And now, he had his own family to make clothes for, one of which was a little human.

"What do you think, Luffy? Looks good, right?" He held the shirt up to the young boy and grinned when he giggled and laughed in glee, clapping his hands before reaching up for the shirt.

He would always wonder if his sister felt so happy whenever someone looked so excited from seeing something as simple as clothing presented to them.

* * *

"Hello, Nami," Sabo sighs as he stares at the red haired succubus on the ships deck with annoyance. She grins at him flirtatiously before flying closer to him.

"Sabo, my, my, you're looking quite delectable right now," She says while landing in front of him. He grunts and puts down the box he was holding.

"What do you want?"

"I think you know what I want."

"Then why don't you ask that incubus that you're always with? He's right there."

Nami turns around, slightly shocked, and sees the blond incubus looking absolutely defeated, mumbling about how his beloved Nami-swan is being nice to the blond bastard. Next to him is their green haired friend, a werewolf, staring at Sanji with amusement and annoyance. Nami smacks her hand to her forehead.

"I told them to stay back there!" Sabo hears her mumble. His family has mostly stopped whatever they were doing and by now have all walked over to see some of their allies.

"Nami, what are you here for?" Ace asks as he walks over, swinging his arm over to rest around Sabo's shoulders. Nami sighs and looks back at her friends, who for once look serious, as they walk to stand next to her.

"Something bad is brewing in the world," She says as she crosses her arms. She looks up when Whitebeard sits in his chair and waits for him to motion her to continue. "For some reason, the humans are all becoming more violent than they have been in years, not since the Dark Age. Many of the humans are massacring certain villages now, too, but we can't find what the reasons are. It's always death by fire when they do these massacres, as well. Have you heard anything about this?"

"No, we haven't heard anything. That could get bad for us, though."

It was silent for a while. During the Dark Age when the humans became very violent, many of their own had been killed off. With superstitions arising, people became more careful or were driven insane. To find good prey was difficult. Still, it had been just as damaging to the humans.

There was a pitter patter of small feet and everyone looked behind them as Luffy ran up. He was holding something behind his back as he ran up and stood before Nami, beaming at her with his huge grin. Zoro raised and eyebrow while Sanji sighed and took in a deep breath of his cigarette. Nami simply looked up and glared at them.

"Did you guys kidnap a human?"

"No, Ace here saved him," Thatch said grinning as he walked up and smacked the other on the back. "His name is Luffy."

"Luffy, huh?" Nami kneeled down to his level and gave him a small smile. She may have been a demon but she didn't like to scare kids, she liked seeing adults reactions more – how they would scream at her in fear and writhe on the ground if she hurt them. "What do you have behind your back?"

Luffy pulled out a tangerine and shoved it in her face.

"We don't have any tangerines on board right now," Thatch looked up at Whitebeard. This was not the first time he had pulled something out of nowhere, but this was the first time it was something that wasn't a hibiscus.

"Thank you," She said while ruffling his hair before standing. They were about to leave when Marco spoke.

"Do you guys know anything about blue blood?"

"Blue blood?"

"Yeah."

"I've never heard of anything like that, but I bet if you could find Nico Robin she could tell you something. It'll take a while though, knowing how sneaky she is."

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**AN: Yo! So, what do you guys think of prankster Sabo? Normally Thatch or Ace are depicted as pranksters, but I think Sabo would be awesome about it. I mean come on, he designed that tree house and he and Ace came up with that awesome trap in just hours that ended up knocking Dadan out of their treehouse. He could definitely pull some fantastic pranks, I think. No violence this chapter as well! And what do you guys think about Luffy's powers? I'm curious as to what your theories are.**

**Genesis: Thanks! I'm so glad you like it! :) Maybe, maybe not. You'll see eventually.**

**Callie982: hahahaha I'm glad! :)**

**shadowmarialove: hehehehe yes, it has to do with his powers, but I can't say what exactly those are yet. hahaha, I'm glad this made you less bored after your homework. I hate doing homework too. But true, learning is good. I already have the next chapter written out, it's the future chapters that are making me pull my hair out, but that's a while away so I'll be okay. :)**

**luffylova: I'm glad you think so! :) I definitely will!**

**I'm sooooo tired! And I'm covered in sunscreen. It feels icky. (I burn really easily. It sucks.) Anyway, thank you so much for reading this chapter! I hope you enjoyed! Please leave a review! :D**


	7. Chapter 7

**Warnings: Violence, murder, possible OoC characters, vampires, ghosts, fluff**

**Disclaimer: I own my words and the plot only; Eiichiro Oda owns One Piece**

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**Danger lurks behind every corner, but so does safety and reassurance**

Ace was angry. No, scratch that, he was beyond infuriated.

There were no words to describe what he was feeling right now. All he knew was that, before him, was a man with a gun to Luffy's head for no reason.

Not that there was any justifiable reason to _murder_ a _child_.

In the back of his mind, he could only wonder how that boy got into so much trouble. But in the front, all he was focused on was the insane, manic look on the man's face and the trembling form of his baby brother trying desperately not to cry. Wide, innocent eyes stared at him with a pleading look and Ace could smell the fear Luffy was trying and failing not to show.

It made his hatred for humans grow, to see one do this to a child.

"What? You're not going to fight to get him back? Do even you monsters reject what he is? Let me tell you, they will always be rejected!" The man spat out, bringing the gun closer to the boys temple. Ace heard the barely there whimper and he clenched his fists tighter.

"Why do you lowly humans find need to kill off the blue bloods? Why do you feel such hatred towards them, towards a _child_?" Ace asked in a hiss, his tone of voice murderous, standing tall before the man who was doing such despicable acts. Ace's eyes turned red as the moon glinted across them from behind the rapidly moving clouds. Then, a large cloud covered the moon and the light disappeared from the standoff nearby the village. The only light came from the flames of streetlights and house lights in the distance. Aside from that, they were enshrouded in darkness, mist from the cool, wet air pooling around them and making visibility for the human zero.

"Hahahaha! You monsters don't even know what he is! It's so beautiful! You know, I've never done it before, but I wonder what blue blood looks like splattered across the ground? Don't you think it would be pretty?"

Before he could move again, Ace crossed the many yards between them silently and grabbed his forearm, crushing it in his grip, all in a matter of seconds. The man screamed in agony and let the gun fall as some of his bones protruded from his skin. Still, he held onto Luffy, clutching him tight and making it hard for the young boy to breathe.

Unexpectedly, he cast the widest and one of the most malicious grins up at Ace. "He will be your downfall. He will be the downfall of all monsters and humans, and by letting him live it is all your fault."

Ace moved his hand to the man's neck and glowered at him, his red eyes shining in the moonlight. "I think you humans will kill each other off before this boy can do anything. He has far many more morals than any red blooded human will." And with that, his hand snapped the mans neck in half like a twig. Blood splattered everywhere as it poured from his mouth and Ace watched with sick joy as the man's eyes rolled back into his head with a terrified last scream. Ace took his hand away, let the man fall backwards on the ground, and licked at the blood that covered his hand and arm, frowning at its bitter taste. Then looked down at Luffy. In the man's last moments, he had let go of the little boy. He kneeled down before the boy and helped him to stand on his feet, frowning at the terrified look in his eyes. "Sorry, did I scare you?"

Luffy shook his head frantically and bit his lip with worry. Ace was happy that the boy couldn't see the blood, because he was sure the boy would be crying if he could. "Ace?" He looked at the boy and made a soft humming sound to show he was listening. "Am I evil?" Ace's eyes widened at the question and he didn't know what to say. Nervous by the silence, Luffy continued. "They say that, that blue blood bad. It's evil, demon. Mama died and, and, they all dead. Because they say we evil. Am I evil?" With his vampire sight, in the dark, he could see Luffy's big, watery eyes staring at him, shaking with anxiety and fear. Was this what the red blooded humans had instilled into the boy? At such a young age? That he, of all people, was evil?

Ace pulled the young boy close to him and gently pushed his head to his shoulder. He smiled as he hugged the boy close. "You? Evil? That's such a stupid idea, Luffy. You will never be evil."

It was silent for a few moments before the boy spoke again. "But…but said can't love. I grow up no love. That's what they say. Don't duhzerv it," He mumbled into Ace's shoulder with a shaking voice. Ace could feel him quivering in his arms and tightened his grip on the boy, giving him a kiss on the side of his head to try and reassure him.

"Luffy, they are lying. You will always have people to love you. And you don't want to be evil, right?" He felt the boy shake his head frantically and couldn't help the small smile that crossed his face. "No one evil would ever think of that. You're not evil, Lu, and you never will be. Just like you will never be without love."

The moon came out from behind the clouds while Ace spoke. By then, Luffy's eyes were trembling with emotion. A few seconds later, the tears spilled over with a wail coming from the young boy. Ace moved to sit down and held the boy in his lap for a long time, smoothing down his hair and rubbing a hand up and down his back while slowly rocking him. He didn't say anything as he let Luffy cry, but he let him know he was there.

Ace wondered if Luffy felt like this during the two years he had been with the vampire pirates so far. The thought made his heart clench – and when his heart clenched, he had to wonder how long it had been since he began to care so deeply for this human.

When Ace was turned, he relished in the fact he was no longer human. In the short twenty years he had lived then, he watched his beloved parents get murdered before his eyes; he was told his grandfather, a Vice-Admiral and a hero of justice, was killed in war when in reality, his allied marines had dug his grave and then shot him until he fell into it, then buried him alive until he suffocated on dirt, for helping save Ace from death; his caretakers were brutally murdered in an arson for protecting him; the first woman he had a crush on, who taught him his manners, was stabbed through the heart for treating him as a human, for they believed he was much less than that; his father's apprentice and crew were all slaughtered protecting him; for his lineage, for carrying his fathers blood in his veins, he was hunted down – they had caused him to hate being that mans son even though he once held the man in such high regard. He had no reason or desire to enjoy human company. They had given him no reason to do so.

As a vampire, he was brutal in his attacks. His first ninety years were filled with blood lust. He was known as Bloody Fist or Fire Fist because of the amount of damage he could cause by fist fighting alone. Of course, then he was captured by Whitebeard and kept on the ship, trying to assassinate his current father in his naivety for five years. Only after being worn down after days and months and years did he finally accept the man as his father. He had a family again, and his heart began to rebuild.

But he still hates humans 732 years later from the day he turned.

Except for this one right here, the young boy crying in his arms. He loved this boy like he was, is, his little brother. He never wanted anything to happen to this boy. He wished he could protect him from all the evils of life, but he was finding that it may be to late. He just hoped that always, this boy would retain his innocence and love of life.

"Ace! Don't leave! Please…don't leave!" The words the boy cried caught him off guard. It made him wonder what he went through in his three years before they met. Ace hugged him as close as he possibly could to his body, trying to shield him from the world.

"I promise, Luffy. I'm not going anywhere."

* * *

"You're just a magnet for trouble, aren't you?" Marco mumbled, only causing the child before him to laugh. He sighed deeply at their predicament – the two of them were currently lost somewhere on a huge island because earlier, Luffy fell over the railing while he was playing, forcing Marco to jump in after them, but then they got caught in a whirlpool and were now on some island in the middle of nowhere, the ship barely visible miles out in the sea.

"Can we go exploring? Please? Please please please please pleeeeeeeaaaaasssseeeee!" Luffy begged him, tugging at his shirt, and Marco rolled his eyes despite his fond smile at the boys antics.

"Yeah, yoi, we can go have an adventure."

"Yosh! Adventure!" Luffy exclaimed, throwing his arms in the air as he began to run into the woods. Marco easily kept up with him, watching as he ran around, looking at all of the strange bugs and plants he had never seen before.

He smiled at the boy as he thought back to when he went exploring when he was a kid. Those days were very long ago, though, back when he had a few older brothers up until a storm struck and killed them all off except for him. His story was not nearly as awful as many of his brothers and sisters were, but he had bad things happen to him as a vampire – he lost the love of his life, a human who knew who he was and was going to turn that night – to a vicious incubus. When he found the demon, Marco slaughtered him.

"Marco! Burns!" Luffy pointed behind Marco and Marco turned, eyes squinting in pain as the sunlight invaded his sensitive eyes. Then he looked at his own, reddening skin. Inwardly, he cursed at not realizing what time it was. It looked like it could be getting close to seven, which meant he had been in the sun for three hours so far. This could seriously screw him over.

He lives over one thousand years, fighting for survival, to be taken out by the sun, something only an idiotic vampire would die in. What a stupid, pathetic way to die.

He felt Luffy tug on his hand and suddenly the young boy was leading him through the woods.

"Luffy, where are we going?"

Luffy didn't seem to hear him. It was as though he was focusing on something else. However, no matter how much Marco heightened his senses, he could sense no one on the island. The only inhabitants were animals and plants.

So what exactly was Luffy following?

Luffy lead him around for a half hour and by then, he was beginning to feel ill, his skin beginning to blister and turn bright red. For some reason, he was especially vulnerable to the sun. If he didn't find shelter soon, he would die. And the fact that it would happen in front of Luffy made his stomach churn.

But then, Luffy turned and shoved at his legs. Marco stumbled backwards a few steps and then he was enshrouded by darkness. He didn't really know what happened until he looked around and saw he was surrounded by dark, wet and cold cave walls.

Luffy had found a safe place for him.

He smiled down at Luffy as the boy grinned up at him. "Thank you, Luffy." Luffy beamed even more but then, his lips were tugged into a frown.

"Marco, you're hurt," Marco looked down at his burn marks – serious sun burns but he knew that it wasn't bad enough to kill him now that he was standing in darkness. He looked back up at Luffy who bit his lip before his eyes light up with an idea. "Gonna get water to cool you off!"

"Wait! Luffy!" Marco yelled and tried to reach out for the boy, but his skin met sunlight and he was forced to retract his hand with a hiss of pain. His eyes widened as he watched the boy disappear. Nervousness welled up inside of him – they hadn't been to this island in at least two hundred years, and a lot can change in that amount of time. He hoped and prayed that someone out there would watch over the boy when he couldn't.

Luffy had no such worries. He was happily running through the brush, following one of the figures that he had seen for his whole life. Not that his family knew – they never asked. There were actually a lot of people that he saw in his life that no one else could see – it was just that this man was always with him, ever since the beginning, before even Ace. The other people he met after his Mama died. He also wasn't allowed to speak to the man around others on the man's orders.

"Shanks, where are we goin'?" Luffy asked the red haired, translucent man. He laughed as he lead Luffy along through the thick jungle life, teeming with creatures of all sizes, making unidentifiable sounds in the tree tops and on the ground.

"There's a fresh water stream up ahead. If we can somehow get the water to him, his burns would heal faster. For a vampire, burns from the sun can take weeks or months, even years to heal if they're very serious."

"Will Marco be ok?" The boy asked with a quivering voice. Shanks bellowed out a loud laugh and nodded his head.

"He'll be fine, Anchor. Marco's strong."

"I'm not an anchor!"

"Oh, then why did you almost drown today?" Luffy looked down, pouting and frustrated. The elder grinned and ruffled his hair. "Be more careful, alright?" Luffy looked up and stuck his tongue out before running ahead. He knew Shanks was nearby as he could hear his booming laugh.

Luffy jumped around and over roots and bushes and ducked under branches as he ran as fast as his short legs could carry him. Despite the circumstances, he was happy to be outside in the sunlight. It was rare that it ever happened since he wasn't allowed on deck during the day because no one could go into the daylight for long. He relished in the sounds of the birds, small bugs and big bugs flying or crawling around, the monkeys chattering above him and the sounds of animals in the distance.

Then Luffy tripped over a rock and landed flat on his face. He groaned before sitting up and then he blinked, grinning widely. "Fresh water!" He exclaimed as he got up and ran to the small stream. But then he frowned. "Shanks, how do I get it back?" The six year old asked as he looked at the water without any form of bucket. Shanks hummed and looked around before pointing to a pair of bushes.

"There's something metal over there. Why don't you check it out?" Luffy smiled and ran over as he giggled. Shanks stood straight as he watched over the boy with fond eyes, smile deepening when the boy exclaimed in surprise at the bucket he found.

"How didja know it was there, Shanks?" Luffy asked in awe. Shanks laughed at him.

"I've been here before, Luffy," He replied as he watched the young boy get as much water as he could carry into the bucket before he unsteadily began to totter off under the new weight. "Too heavy, kid?" Shanks asked with a smirk, causing Luffy to glare up at him childishly.

"Shut up! It's not heavy at all!" Luffy yelled at the man as he began to move faster. He walked uphill slowly and steadily, grabbing onto rocks jutting out of the earth as he lugged the large bucket along with him. Shanks followed behind him, making sure he didn't fall (which was kind of pointless in his mind since he couldn't touch the kid, but he wanted to at least watch out for him), as he struggled to get the water to Marco.

It was a long process since he was now going uphill, not down, but eventually he made it. He hadn't lost much water on the journey – what he did lose he had spilled on himself –and was proud of himself for being able to carry it. Shanks watched with a smile as he ran up to Marco, who instantly bonked him on the head before hugging him and telling him to not do stupid stuff like that again. They boy only laughed.

Shanks looked up at the sun in the sky and prayed that somehow Luffy would not fall victim to himself like so many others had before him. Like Shanks had.

* * *

**AN: Posted early because I don't think I'll be able to post this later today. Anyway, good morning! Hope you all slept well, I did. :) So, what do you guys think of this new development? Do you like seeing Shanks here? What do you think about Ace and Marco's pasts? It'll all come into play more later. :)**

**LyricoJ: hahaha, hope this slightly quelled your curiosity. :)**

**Genesis: Yes! Update! And you'd be surprised how often they chase Sabo for pranks on the ship. It's quite a lot. Ace should definitely be a dad - he'd be awesome at it. Yes! Luffy calls him Papa. I wanted him to call him Papa but later he'll ****probably call him Pops. Thanks! :)**

**luffylova: This may have sated your curiosity - or just made it grow. I can't wait for Robin to come in either! :D**

**Lover's Red Rose: Hmmm, maybe later, but you'll see why Luffy only gave something to Nami later. And you'll have to wait to see what Luffy is, I don't wanna spoil it. **

**Kisuminight: Thank you so much! I wanted to give it a try, and I think it's coming out pretty good. I believe this chapter answers your question regarding the afterlife. I know it's not very clear as to how or why, but those answers will come up later.**

**MysticMaiden 18: Thanks! I love writing their fluff scenes together :)**

**shadowmarialove: This answers your question - he can connect to the afterlife. The rest of the strawhats will pop up later. He's not a mermaid; he's an anchor, and Shanks loves to tease him for it. Hahahaha, I hope you like the chapter! And come school in a few weeks, I think my updates will be slowing down :(**

**Don't really have much to say right now other than I'm really hungry. Anyway, Thank you so much for reading this chapter! Please leave a review! :)**


	8. Chapter 8

**Warnings: Fluff, ghosts, vampires, angst, character death, tragedy, illness**

**Disclaimer: I own the plot and words but Eiichiro Oda owns everything concerning One Piece**

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**The Questionable Past **

Luffy's eyes were sparkling and he was bouncing up and down on his bed, his eyes staring straight ahead of him as the teen finished his story.

"…and that was how I, the Great Usopp, defeated the largest army on the planet with only one hammer!" He finished the statement with a proud pose, his arm crossed and his fist over his heart. The long nosed boy looked down, grinning when the child giggled and clapped his hands excitedly.

"You're so awesome, Usopp!" The child cheered, smiling up at the elder. Usopp grinned.

"Of course I am! I have eight thou-"

"Telling the boy one of your stories again, Usopp?"

The teen looked up, grinning when he saw Shanks popping out of the ceiling.

"Not like you don't tell him any."

"Yeah, but most of my adventures are real stories."

Usopp paled a little and mumbled a complaint, his arms crossed. It only made Luffy laugh at them. Usopp half heartedly glared at the boy for being laughed at, but if one looked closely, there was a ghost of a smile on his lips. Shanks, on the other hand, was laughing loudly along with the boy.

"Luffy, want to hear about one of my adventures?" The boy's eyes glimmered as he nodded his head frantically at Shanks' question, cheering. Shanks laughed while Usopp leaned against the wall. "How about I tell you about the time I visited an island in the sky…"

It always made them happy to see Luffy so excited and happy just by hearing their stories. It made Usopp glad as well because most all of the stories had his dad in them, unless Shanks was talking about when he was on Roger's ship.

Speaking of Roger, he walked through the closed door with Rouge, grinning at the three of them.

"Roger!" Luffy cried out with a huge grin on his face, waving at the ghost. Roger laughed boisterously and approached the three while Rouge followed, a soft smile on her face.

"You three seem very awake for being up in the middle of the day."

Luffy pouted. "I'm not tired and I wanna play but I can't leave the room."

Roger smiled slightly, knowing the boy's frustrations but at the same time agreeing with the Whitebeard pirate's decision. After all, if he was out there without supervision and got in trouble (which was bound to happen; this was Luffy, trouble was his middle name) no one would be able to help him and things could get extremely dangerous for the boy.

"You know it's not safe for you to be out there alone, Luffy," Rouge said softly, sitting next to the boy who looked up at her, still pouting.

"I know, but I get really bored in here," He whined, making her chuckle softly.

"Well, you are supposed to be sleeping right now, Anchor," Shanks smirked at the kid, who glared up at him, complaining.

"I'm not an anchor, stupid Shanks!" Luffy stuck his tongue out at the red haired ghost, who did the same thing right back at him.

"You can't swim though, just like an anchor."

Luffy was fuming while Shanks smirked. Roger laughed with Usopp while Rouge sighed with a fond smile on her lips. Then, Luffy yawned, looking tired. He rubbed at his eyes while Rouge chuckled softly. She had Usopp and Shanks get off the bed as she pulled the covers out from under the boy and managed to coax him underneath them.

"You've been awake for more than twelve hours. It's time for you to sleep," She said softly, humming. Luffy whined.

"'M not tired," His yawn contradicted the statement, though, and soon, the boy was fast asleep on his bed. Rouge looked up at the other's, her eyes serious.

"It's approaching once more, isn't it?"

Roger nodded. "As long as _he_ can't get near the boy, everything should be okay."

"But we're powerless during that time. Should we just show the pirates everything already?"

"No," Shanks said, firm and stern. "Luffy's not prepared for that yet. We still have time, and _he_ won't be able to get to Luffy as long as the pirates are here. They won't let anything happen to him."

Rouge frowned slightly, sighing in exhaustion and sadness. "I just hope history won't repeat itself."

* * *

Luffy had collapsed to his hands and knees on deck, violently throwing up whatever food was in his stomach. He had been feeling odd all day, then it began to hurt. Now his throat felt like acid and he wanted to cry.

He felt a big hand running up and down his back while the other pushed his hair out of his face as he threw up the contents of his stomach. By the time he was done, he was shivering uncontrollably. Everything was cold and he just wanted to be warm.

A cloth was gently wiped across his face before he was lifted into warm arms. He looked up and saw Sabo was moving him to be able to hold him. He clutched around Sabo's neck to make it easier for the elder and because being held so close to the elder brought him comfort. As Sabo brought him away, he could see Ace behind him along with Thatch cleaning up the mess that he had made, mumbling worriedly to each other.

He felt guilty.

He apparently said something about it because Sabo told him it wasn't his fault as they descended to the lower decks. He looked up at Sabo through his now blurring and hazy vision and groaned in pain. A hand was on his forehead then and he heard Sabo say a bad word before his pace quickened. This happened every year for some reason and he was beginning to question why.

Sabo had similar thoughts, wondering why once a year, without fail, the boy would get horribly ill. It was always around the same time of the year as well. It kind of reminded him of his early life. Before he was picked up by the Whitebeards, his parents actions towards others horrified him. They would hurt him as well and sometimes it got so bad, he would puke until he passed out and his throat bled. But Luffy, he wasn't horrified or anything. Just every year, he got horribly ill. And if they weren't careful during that time, they really could lose the boy.

He entered the boy's room and gently laid him on his bed, brushing his hair away from his forehead. He was sleeping now, despite his labored breaths. It made Sabo give a small smile of relief before he left the room to find a doctor or nurse who always had the medicine prepared for whenever he got sick.

_Luffy looked up at the woman before him. He realized that he was younger now, and a lot shorter too, probably just barely two. The woman kneeled before him and pulled a stuffed bear out from behind her back, handing it to him. He heard himself giggle and then the woman spoke, but he couldn't understand her words. He just babbled something and reached for her face, his chubby little fingers ghosting over her lips, making her smile._

_She was very pretty, though, and he felt warm and happy around her. She had long, soft black hair that she let him grab at and when she kissed his forehead, her lips were soft. She spoke to him softly and everything she was doing made him happy._

_This was Mama._

_They were just playing with the bear when, suddenly, the door was slammed open. Luffy was startled as he watched his mother stand, arms spread out. She yelled at him desperately, but all he understood was the meaning he then didn't know, "run", as he heard deep voices, screaming and shouting angrily at them, and saw the shiny, pointed objects pointed at him. He began to cry as he got up to his feet and attempted to run away, his instincts telling him danger was far too close._

_There were loud bangs and shouts and Luffy cried out in fear as he ran away, looking for a safe haven. But it was futile – they grabbed him and pulled him back, the hands that haunted his every nightmare that he has had since._

_It hurt a lot, their metal poles and kicks and punches. He could only cry out as he heard his mother screaming, crying and begging them to stop hurting him. They ignored her._

_After what seemed like hours, they stopped. They walked out and Luffy was sure he wouldn't wake up again if he took a nap right then, which seemed very tempting. The thought terrified him, but he felt it was true since his vision was running black. He didn't really understand, but for some reason, it made him somewhat sad._

_Then he felt a soft hand grab his arm. He tilted his head and saw his Mama crawling towards him despite the blue blood that was seeping onto the floor in her hurry. Luffy cried out for her and she gave him a sad smile as she spoke his name, comforted him, as her own tears fell to the ground. Then something happened because all of his wounds began to disappear, leaving him covered in blood only. She whispered something to him that sounded like "I love you" before her hand fell to the ground, limp, in a pool of blue blood._

_Luffy got onto his hands and knees as the last of his wounds healed and crawled to his Mama, trying to shake her awake. But she wouldn't wake up. Something hurt in his tummy and he began to cry for his Mama louder, shaking her more._

_It didn't work._

_He laid there on her body for days, crying out his eyes, refusing to move. The most important person in his life, he realized, was gone. Now he had nothing – unless he could find Papa, the second most important in his life. _

_Somehow, despite his hunger, he pushed himself to his feet and walked to the table unsteadily. He tried to get on one of the chairs but only fell on his butt. He whined and whimpered in pain before getting up again and succeeding this time. Then he climbed onto the table and over to the food that had been left out before those men came. His stomach was in pain and he needed to eat._

_He stuffed his face with stale bread and over ripe fruit and spilled apple juice all over himself while on that table, but he felt better now. He ignored the stickiness of his clothes after eating and tried to get down safely, only to fall and land on his head before rolling on the floor several times. The two year old began to cry as he sat up, holding his head as he got to his feet. Maybe someone outside could help him. Maybe Mama just couldn't wake up – maybe someone else could wake her up._

_The doorknob was far above his reach. He jumped and jumped for several minutes before realizing he needed something else. He blinked before walking over to the table and grabbing the chair he used before, attempting to pull at it. It was heavy, but it moved, so he kept pushing and pulling. Several times, he landed on his butt or back and when he tried to push it, he face planted. But, after several long and painful minutes, he managed to get the chair across the room and to the door. He climbed up, more carefully this time, and stood on his tip toes, managing to open the door. For the first time in days, he smiled. He was hopeful. Maybe everything could get fixed._

_He wished he never opened that door._

_He had run into the village, yelling for help with just strangled sounds since he knew no words, but was only met with tragedy. Every person he knew lay on the ground. Blue was splattered everywhere and large puddles of it covered the ground, mixed in with the mud. Houses were burned to the ground or still burning, their oddly colored purple flames devouring all, leaving a thin layer of ash on the ground. The air smelled of decaying, burned flesh and singed wood, a thick cloud of smoke and pungent odor surrounding the young boy. The grey sky began to cry and he could only fall to his knees. Everything was gone. Those men had taken everything away._

_Then he looked down when something touched his small foot – it was an eyeball._

_He let out an agonized cry as he called out for his Mama and Papa – Papa. He moved his small legs, stumbling and tripping, and began to run through the pouring rain, calling out Papa, the only other word that he knew perfectly. He ran through the streets, ignoring the blue blood of all the people he knew – the baker who gave him cupcakes, the butcher who would sneak him some meat whenever they were buying food, the farmers son who was older yet always played with him, the neighbor's daughter who would watch him when his Mama and Papa were out, the barmaid who always gave him hot chocolate – searching for his Papa._

_When he found him, his world stopped. _

_The second most important person of his life was before him in a gruesome manner, something a two year old should never see. His father was sticking up from the ground on several spears. He looked as though he had fought hard, as he had red blood on him as well and wounds littered his mangled body. But the scariest part was his head – it had been cut off and placed on a spear nearby. His eyes had rolled back, showing only the whites, and his mouth was left open in what appeared to be his last words. The tattoo on the left side of his face was covered by hideous and painful burns._

_Luffy only stared, pupils dilating as the tears ran down his cheeks. His legs, once again, collapsed underneath him. He fell to his knees, staring straight at his Dad yet at the same time unseeing. After several suffocating long minutes, his agonized wails pierced the skies. He brought his hands up and wiped furiously at his eyes, but nothing worked._

"_It's all the red bloods fault, isn't it?"_

_Now seven again, he turned and looked at the figure before him. _

_"Don't you want them dead? We can kill them all together."_

_Luffy backed up, scared of the thing and the darkness surrounding him._

_"No," He whimpered. He was terrified and didn't really know what was going on. He felt the figure before him grow angry, though, and then hands began to come out of nowhere. He cried out as they grabbed at him and began to pull him under. "Ace! ACE!"_

"LUFFY!" Luffy's eyes opened and he saw that Ace was above him, trying to shake him awake. He let out a loud cry and launched himself onto the other, startling him when he began to wail. He always had nightmares when he was sick, but never like that.

"Mama…Papa…" Luffy whimpered and cried into Ace's chest. Ace's eyes widened as he held the child to his chest. He looked over by the door, where several other people were standing. They all had similar looks of shock on their faces. In all the four years Luffy had been here, he had only once ever mentioned his parents and to Ace alone. They knew virtually nothing about the boy's family, but they could tell it was something that a child shouldn't be put through. Ace's heart clenched as the boy continued to wail, but all he could do was try to soothe the boy as he cried.

* * *

**AN: I have a bad habit of writing _really sad sh*t. _So I'm just apologizing in advance for the future sadness that, if you can't tell by now, is inevitable. I feel reeeeeaaaaaallllllyyyyyyy bad for putting Luffy through that, but gahhhh the plot bunnies demanded it be done.** **Who do you guys think the mysterious man,** _he_**,**** is? **

**jam klaoo: I'm so glad you like it! I love vampires too :) . I feel bad for putting Ace through that :(**

**Kiki2000: hahaha, thanks :) And I can't answer that question, but it will be answered in due time. He can't make anything appear - he has to be given something by a ghost with the intention of giving it to another person. I hope you liked this chapter! :D**

**Cyborgnetics: Thanks! I'm glad you like it so much! :) The blue blood will be coming up more later and YES SHANKS! He plays a very important role in this story. I can't answer that question about blue blood, but you'll see soon!**

**youshouldn'tneedtoknow: Thanks! He's going to be coming up a lot pretty soon :)  
**

**MysticMaiden 18: Shanks is dead but you're going to be seeing a whole lot of him and now you know what happened to poor lil' Lu :(**

**ichigi111kurosaki: Here ya go :)**

**LyricoJ: hahaha, you'll know soon :)**

**luffylova: 1) Yes, Shanks is dead but he's going to have a huge roll in this story. 2) Here's Usopp (he's dead too), Robin is soon, Chopper MUCH later, Franky and Brook will be coming up but I dunno when exactly, just know it's before Chopper and after Robin**

**shadowmarialove: Yes, Luffy sees the dead. It doesn't explain a lot, but when more answers come up, hopefully it'll make more sense. For the tangerines and flowers: If a ghost gives Luffy an object to pass on to another person, Luffy must give it to that person or the object will fade into nonexistance. **

**I love you guys to much! Like seriously, you guys all rock. Which is why I feel bad saying this: When school starts in a little over a week, my updates will slow IMMENSELY. I already know I'm going to have a crap ton of work this year, so I may only be able to update during weekdays or when I have a serious case of I'm-not-doing-this-sh*tty-work procrastination for school. I won't stop updates, but I'm just saying this now so I don't put it on you the day before school. Sorry guys :(**

**Anyway, thanks so much for reading! Please leave a review! :)**


	9. Chapter 9

**Warnings: Fluff, possibly confusing things, possible OoC characters, OC Character**

**Disclaimer: Anything related to One Piece belongs to Eiichiro Oda but I own the plot and words.**

* * *

**Nightmares, Heartbeats, and Secrets**

Not all of Luffy's nightmares were so horrifying that they would make him scream.

More often, the young boy would have nightmares of odd things that children's minds had the ability to conjure. Sometimes all of the meat would be gone, he would be hopelessly lost and alone, or he was surrounded by people who ignored him. Not necessarily typical of kids, but not nearly as bad as some of his nightmares.

That noon, Luffy had one of those nightmares, one in which he couldn't find Ace. He had woken up with teary eyes, sniffling and whining. He hated it when Ace was gone. It always felt as if there was a hole in his heart. He may have been raised by the whole crew, but it was Ace who found him first and took him in despite the fact that he could have easily left the boy there.

Luffy crawled out of his bed and put his feet on the chilly wooden floor before grabbing his bunny and clutching it close to himself. He scuttled over to the door and opened it, looking down the hall and sighing in relief when he saw no one.

The only person he wanted seeing him like this was Ace.

The little boy shut his door quietly and walked down the hall, his eyes darting around at the shadows that seemed to close in on him due to the eerie hall lighting. The ship creaked and groaned, making an uneasy expression come over his face as he bit at his lip, wishing that his room was closer to Ace's.

When he reached the door, he immediately reached for the doorknob, not even bothering to knock. He had come to Ace's room so many times before from his nightmares that Ace told him he no longer had to knock to come in. So the little boy opened the door and shut it quietly behind him. He frowned a little when he realized Ace's lamp wasn't on, making shadows look larger and more ominous. Luffy bit his lip tight and ran in the direction of Ace's bed, jumping on the covered lump on the mattress. There was a muffled "oof" before the bundle moved and then glowing red eyes stared right at Luffy.

Ace's eyes softened at the sight of the boy: tear tracks on his red cheeks, puffy eyes, snot dripping from his nose, his upper teeth biting into his lower lip from nerves, one of his hands clutching onto his old stuffed rabbit. He didn't ask why Luffy was crying, knowing already why he had come to his room, and reached out, pulling the young child under the covers with him.

Luffy sniffed and hiccuped into the warm chest in front of him as Ace heated his body, knowing that it tended to have a calming affect on the boy. He hummed that lullaby that Luffy would always ask to hear when he was scared, the one he sang that first time Luffy cried over a thunderstorm.

Ace shifted the two so that he was on his back while Luffy lay on his chest, making it easier for him to rub soothing circles into the younger's back. Luffy tried to bury himself into Ace's chest, causing a small, fond smile to appear on the vampires lips.

"Do you want to sleep in here with me today?" He whispered to the boy, already knowing the answer but asking anyway. The boy shook his head against Ace's chest, causing the man to chuckle. Long minutes later, the boy had managed to calm and he yawned widely, trying to keep his eyes open. Ace once again just smiled at the boy and told him to sleep. Once the boy had fallen into dreamland, Ace allowed himself to follow.

* * *

Not all of Whitebeard's crew was vampires.

They had a few demons, some werewolves, the odd angel they had found, a couple of magicians, and even a few humans. Of course their sleeping schedule's were the same as the vampires except for when the humans and magicians had watch during the day. Luffy always wanted to join them outside, but he wasn't allowed to do so due to messing up the young boy's sleeping schedule or if they did get attacked during the day, which actually happened quite often. The ship had to be protected and if they had a little boy to worry about, dangerous things could happen.

One time, however, Luffy had snuck outside and into the crows nest where there was a magician on watch. It was a girl with red hair similar to Shanks' except it was curly. She was short and had big bright blue eyes. Luffy thought that her name was Rose. Luffy had seen her a few times, but she was probably the most silent person on the crew.

She looked up when she saw the little boy, who was looking at her guiltily. He had thought no one was in the crows nest. She blinked at him before sighing and motioning him over. Luffy sat next to her and she wrapped part of her cloak around him as she continued to look out the paneless windows. The boy suddenly became tired and comforted all at once. It was strange to him, but there was a "thump" in her chest like his that he had never heard before in Ace or any of the vampires chests. It felt nice to hear the sound as he snuggled into her. She gave a soft smile he didn't see and slowly began to pat his head until he fell into a deep sleep.

* * *

It always baffled the young boy, how there always appeared to be an endless supply of blood on the ship for the insatiable vampires. He also wondered where the werewolves went on full moons. And where did the demons go on moonless nights? Why did the few angels on board always disappear at the strangest of times? Why did the magicians always seem worn out every Saturday of the week?

It made no sense to the blue blooded boy.

He only found out what happened by sneaking into Pops' room one odd evening when the sun was just setting. The crew was eating in the galley or beginning their daily chores. Luffy had nothing to do, so he had decided to go and play with Whitebeard. To his surprise, he had been having a serious conversation with Rose.

Luffy, being the curious little boy he was, wanted to know what it was about. They were talking, using large words in strange languages the young boy didn't understand, but he did see the sparkling magic the short woman used.

Suddenly, he was floating in the air. He gave a yelp of surprise as he floated over to Rose, tumbling in circles, before she grabbed him and held him to her hip as he tried to make his dizziness disappear. She gave a soft smile as Newgate gave a deep chuckle.

"What are you doing in here, Luffy?" He asked in his gruff voice as the boy turned his head to him and grinned.

"I was having an adventure!"

Whitebeard grinned at the response as Rose smiled, still messing around with the symbols in front of her.

"Rose, what're ya doin?" The little boy asked, staring with wide eyes at the symbols.

"Helping feed the ship."

"Feed the ship?"

She nodded as reveal barrels appeared before her, the ones he always saw filled with rum or blood. Slowly, they began to fill with the red liquid, and once they were filled and covered, another row appeared on top, and the process continued. Luffy watched, fascinated, as blood appeared from seemingly nowhere.

"It's not hurting anybody. It's lost blood and the blood of the dead. Right now, it's part of the circle of life."

"But aren't vampires dead?"

Rose chuckled. "They may be dead, but this keeps them from going on rampages."

Luffy stared in awe before turning to her. "Is this why the magicians are always tired on Saturdays?"

"Yes. They lend me magic. They don't know why, but it's a requirement on the ship."

Like the child he was, he kept asking questions. Whitebeard had no qualms with telling the boy. He may not be able to keep a secret, but it wasn't like the crew would ask him what happened. Since that wouldn't happen, it wouldn't come up. It wasn't like the crew would care anyway - they got their stomachs filled, and that was what was most important to them.

So Luffy learned all the secrets of the ship. Rose sedated the werewolves with magic during the full moon. She would calm the tensions between the angels and the other creatures on board so no bloody war broke out. She would help them return to heaven when they began to become a fallen, something worse than a creature of the night could ever be. She prevented the Demons from going on senseless hunts by locking them up on moonless nights, the nights when Angels were at their weakest and would be unable to stop them. The magicians had to give her power all week up until Saturday to do these tasks, never questioning it, while they got to restock on the weekends.

Only Whitebeard and Rose knew this. She helped to keep the ship running. She wasn't a commander or anything like that. She was just a normal crew member.

Yet she was so much more.

Luffy didn't really understand most of what he was told. He just shrugged it off as a mystery. His desires to know what the answers to those questions were answered, even if he didn't understand. Not that either adult minded him not knowing, since it made it easier for them. When his questions ended, he fell asleep against her shoulder because he woke up too early in the day.

* * *

**AN: So, this chapter doesn't do much for the plot except introduce Rose and fix things that have personally been incessantly bothering me about this story. And yes, Rose will appear in later chapters, but not for a long time. I don't know how important she will be (I honestly made her up this morning) but she's been added to the plot. I hope you guys don't mind. She won't be showing up for a while though. And if you want a rough idea of what she looks like, she looks like Maria and Mamoru's daughter from Shinsekai Yori (I highly suggest this show to everyone who can deal with horror/mystery/drama). **

**Also, have any of you heard of SOPA 3.0? I have. I am** _absolutely infuriated_** about this because what the fuck states that my country's government has this power over the whole fucking world? Absolutely none. And to those silly corporations out there who apparently think they're higher than God - **_you're not_** - so get your heads out of your asses because I can guarantee you if this law passes you are going to have one fucking pissed off people on your hands.** **You** _will_ **regret it if this bill passes. I can't sign the petition at the moment, but to all my readers who like reading/writing fanfiction or listening to covers of songs or video game walkthroughs or bloopers or who do any of these things, please sign it. I don't want to get jailed, I don't want you to get jailed. It's called fair use. We have our rights. Please sign it. (And here's evidence if you don't believe me.)**

**I'm just pointing this out too, the Democratic Party - who is under Obama who said this wouldn't happen again - revived this whole shit show. I had nothing against Obama (well, I don't know, I don't pay attention to politics, I think all government is corrupt no matter what party it is) until today. Fuck you Mr. President. Fuck you Democrats in office. Fuck you government.**

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blogs/the-switch/wp/2013/08/05/sopa-died-in-2012-b ut-obama-administration-wants-to-revive-part-of-it /

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**Okay, I'm done with my rant. Sorry if you've already heard of this from someone else.**

**Cybornetics: He's strong to still have his innocence. Yes, though they're dead, they're his parents.**

**LyricoJ: I doubt you'll find anything. I made it up myself. You'll see who "he" is next chapter but yes, it was the Marines. You'll be surprised about the story behind the Marines though. **

**luffylova: I'm sorry for making you cry :( and you'll see next chapter.**

**MysticMaiden 18: I know I feel bad for doing it to Luffy :( You'll see who "he" is next chapter and then more about why Shanks doesn't want to reveal that stuff in future chapters.**

**Kiki2000: Hehehe, you'll see who "he" is soon. :) Thanks! I can't wait to reveal them. **

**shadowmarialove: Yep, that's exactly it :)**

**Sorry for the late update. I was irritated, tired, and having writers block simultaneously yesterday. This new SOPA crap spurred me onto writing more though, just to annoy them and rebel (and cause I really wanted to get this out). **

**Thank for reading and dealing with my rant! I love you guys! Please leave a review! :)**


	10. Chapter 10

**Warnings: Angst, horror(?), fluff, possible OoC characters**

**Disclaimer: Eiichiro Oda owns One Piece. I own the plot and words and everything having to do with the blue bloods since I made them up.**

* * *

**Revelations**

It had been three years since Luffy had that awful nightmare that haunted him for months, and no one had dared to bring it up in front of the boy again. Seeing him suffer so much from the fear, seeing him prone to panic attacks and nightmares on a whole new scale...they feared for the boy.

Every year, Luffy still got sick like that. But it was only for a short time, and most everyone had fond memories of their times with the boy – the pranks he pulled with Sabo and Ace and occasionally Thatch (after his last prank on Marco he was reluctant to do it again for how miserably that had ended), the trouble he often got into, seeing his childish wonder whenever he saw something new. It was all around enjoyable for everyone.

But now they wondered if they should have asked about that nightmare back when he was sick when he was seven years old.

He had one very similar to that one that night. He was sick again. He had been throwing up the whole day and refused to go to sleep. The only reason he was asleep was because Ace had sung him a lullaby, which was always the boy's weakness.

Sabo had been the first one to reach him after the screams had started again, but it was different this time. When he had entered the room, there was…something hovering over the boy that was causing him to scream. Before he could stop it, it had entered the boy's body.

Sabo watched, horrified, as Luffy began to move. It wasn't his normal movement – he seemed delirious, drunken. And his eyes – they were glowing gold with bloodlust – his eyes were pure black normally, the color of the night sky that Sabo dearly loved.

"Luffy?" He whispered, but something in his long dead heart told him this wasn't his beloved little brother. He blinked in shock as he felt a wind blow by him, almost knocking him off of his feet. After a moment, he realized Luffy wasn't there.

Sabo cursed before running up to the deck.

The full moon was high in the sky, free in the sky and in complete sight as the clouds seemed to surround it yet avoid it all at once. The stars seemed especially dim that night as well. The seas were calm and the sails were flat from the lack of wind at their ships level. It was deathly still on the ship as they all stared at Luffy, who stood on the ships figurehead, precariously close to the edge.

Sabo ran up then, staring worriedly at the boy. "Who are you?"

Thatch was about to ask Sabo what he was saying when he saw Luffy smirk – Luffy _never_ smirked. He only grinned.

"So you saw?"

Everyone tensed, because that was in no way Luffy's voice. Why the hell was _that _voice coming out of _Luffy's mouth?_ Luffy's eyes glowed an unnatural gold in the night, much like how their eyes would glow an unnatural red or a werewolf's eyes would glow an unnatural silver. Whitebeard's eyes narrowed as he stood.

"This is why I love blue bloods so much. It's so easy to get inside of them once you've pushed the right buttons. Even if it's only for a short time, to feel alive again," The person in Luffy's body raised his arm to the sky, a wide smile threatening to break his face shining eerily in the moonlight, "It feels so good."

"Teach, what have you done to my son?" Whitebeard stepped forward in front of the rest of his children as the possessed Luffy turned fully to face him. He glared at the boy, feeling so wrong doing so, but he knew that this was not Luffy.

"You truly know nothing about the blue bloods, do you?" He made Luffy laugh like a madman and it looked so horribly wrong to everyone else there. The way his voice cackled as he threw his head back was sickening to them. This was not their sweet little brother Luffy.

Suddenly the light of the moon disappeared. With it, the gold vanished and Luffy's eyes rolled back into his head. His legs gave out as he collapsed forward, being saved from the harsh fall by Sabo's quick move to grab him.

No one said a word, all disconcerted as they stared at the unconscious boy in the blonds arms. He turned his eyes to Newgate, fright and fury dancing in his orbs.

"Ace, stay with the boy tonight. All other Commanders, find Nico Robin."

Ace took the ten year old from Sabo and walked down below deck as the Commanders gathered those under their command and began to make a plan to find the elusive woman, Sabo taking his place temporarily as the Second Division Commander. Ace didn't mind though. The blond could easily find Nico Robin with the right information and he was much more worried about Luffy at the moment.

Ace kicked open his own bedroom door and then kicked it shut behind him. He brought his finger up to a candle and lit it with his powers, lighting the room with the warm glow. He moved over to his bed, kicking his boots off in the process and removing his hat once he was on the bed. He leaned back against the wall, moving the boy to sit in his lap as he pulled him into a tight hug.

Too many strange things had happened around this child. Ace worried deeply for him. From all of the dangerous situations he had managed to get into to his annual illness, he felt fear for whatever was after the boy, which was so much more real than previously.

He buried his nose into the boy's hair as he rubbed Luffy's arm, inhaling his scent. Something about the boy was different, making him want to protect the boy rather than feed from him. It was strange, but they all admitted to having the same odd feeling whenever they got a whiff of his unique scent.

Small hands clenched against his skin and Luffy shifted. Ace pulled back a little, looking down into his thankfully black eyes. He was obviously dazed as he cocked his head to the side.

"Ace?" Luffy rasped out. Ace's teeth clenched, gritting against each other before he smiled shakily at the boy. Luffy gave him his bright smile, making Ace's heart tighten before the boy hugged him with weak arms. "'S cold."

At the barely there comment, Ace heated his body up, thankful for his power over fire. Luffy sighed contentedly and seemed to relax more into Ace. Ace smiled, more genuinely this time, and ran a hand through the soft dark locks.

"I'm scared."

Ace turned shocked eyes down to the boy, who was burying his face into Ace's chest. Ace could feel the small drops of water falling on his skin and frowned as the boy continued to talk.

"He's never been able to do that before…it's getting harder to hold him off. What if he does it again? I don't…I don't want him to do that," Luffy's words ended in a choked sob. Ace made soft shushing sounds as he began to rock slowly, rubbing his hand in soothing circles over his back. Just hearing that this wasn't the first time something had happened with Teach made his anxiety double.

But it made his resolve quadruple.

"We'll find out how to stop him Luffy. I promise, we won't let him have his way with you."

He felt Luffy smile softly against his muscled chest through his tears as he snuggled into Ace. "Thank you," He murmured softly through sniffles, sleep heavy in his voice. Ace smiled softly down at the boy and kissed the crown of his head as his heart rate slowed down with his breathing until he was in a deep sleep. He slept through the rest of the night and the day, and the whole time, Ace never left his side.

* * *

It was three days after Teach's voice had been heard from Luffy's mouth. The child hadn't left Ace's side, attached to him much like he had been when he first came onto the ship. He sat next to Ace at meals, stayed with him as he did paperwork, let him rest his head on his lap when he had narcoleptic attacks, went to the meetings even if he just sat in Ace's lap, and slept in his room, cuddled into the larger body.

No one said anything of the strange behavior. When it became widespread known on the ship that Teach had been invading the boy's sleep, they were very relieved that he was with Ace constantly. The man seemed to be able to calm the boy easily, knowing what would make him laugh or fall asleep or stop crying much more easily than the rest of the crew. It was especially important since the boy had been much more emotional, much more easily scared by small sounds or dark corridors found on the ship. He would always grab Ace's shorts in a death grip and refuse to let go whenever he felt uncomfortable or scared of something.

The Commanders were doing everything in their power to find Nico Robin. But, it was hard. They hadn't been able to find her in years.

That was why, when Nami, Zoro, and Sanji appeared on deck with the aforementioned woman, they were all shocked and immensely relieved but most of all, confused.

Zoro had immediately gone to sleep against the rail of their deck while Sanji swooned over the two women. When asked how they found her, Nami shrugged confusedly.

"She came to us and asked to see you."

The seer stepped forward then, eyes on the child practically attached to Ace's hip. She smiled softly at the child and kneeled down to his level. He blinked at her curiously and then he oh so slowly released Ace and took a few hesitant steps forward until he stood in front of her.

"So, you are the special blue blood," She said, eyes turning solemn as he cocked his head to the side in question. Everyone was staring at her at that moment; even Zoro's eye was cracked open.

"And?" Luffy mumbled, acting quite out of character. He was only like this if he was scared, which wasn't often. Except for recently of course, but still, being surrounded by them all they thought he would've been his outgoing self.

"You know very much what I mean, don't you?"

Luffy pouted at that and looked down.

"This man is haunting you because of your blood. You know that, right?"

"Yeah," He muttered quietly. The crew all stared at the boy, concerned, but did not approach, knowing they needed Robin on their side in this matter.

"None of these people know of what happened," She said softly. The boy nodded.

"I know."

Her eyebrows furrowed. "Did you not want to remember?"

Luffy frowned deeply and nodded. She looked sorrowful and apologetic as she spoke her next words.

"They must see, you know? And that means you can't run from this anymore."

Luffy took a shaky breath before he nodded again, slowly and with small amounts of fear. Robin watched with sad eyes as he bit his finger, putting small puncture holes in his thumb. He brought his arm up and, using his thumb, began making an X-shape in the air.

To their surprise, the blood separated from the finger, being drawn in the air as if it were ink on paper. When Luffy was done, he stepped back. The blood glowed and they were all quickly absorbed into it's light.

The Vampires, who hadn't seen such bright light in many years, all covered their eyes for several long, agonizing moments. They thought that they would've been burned to a crisp within seconds but were shocked to find that they were perfectly safe with no burns in sight. Their eyes all slowly opened and then looked around, all except for Whitebeard, who stared straight ahead behind Robin.

The woman turned, as did the Vampires, Werewolf and Demons, and what they saw surprised them.

Luffy was in the arms of the long dead Red Haired Shanks, a serious look on his face, a grin on his mouth.

"It's good to see you again, Whitebeard."

* * *

**AN: And here is the start of everything. I have to say now updates may slow since I'm not as ahead as I would like to be, but I'll try to type chapters out fast. I also have work and some stray summer work to finish up. But, you now know who "he" is. Teach is dead, but that's the whole issue.**

**LyricoJ: fighting :)**

**luffylova: Sorry, I was frustrated and had some writers block so I didn't update :( You know who "he" is now though :). Garp will show up but he won't be evil.**

**shadowmarialove: Thanks :) And I was very frustrated yesterday but I feel better now. Thanks for your concern :) Yeah, I made Rose up on the spot, but she'll be in the story more now. I think she might end of being pretty important in the long run.**

**Kiki2000: Sorry :( I know the chapter was short but I didn't want to put up just an AN. I realized I hadn't had any moments where Luffy ran to Ace because of a nightmare and because I'm a sucker for those moments, I put one in :) I don't know Rose's level of importance yet but she may end up being pretty important**

**So, chapters will be longer now because of a bunch of information you guys'll be getting. It may take a while to update some chapters though, especially with school right around the corner, but I'll try my best :) Thank you so much for reading! Please leave a review! **


	11. Chapter 11

**Warnings: Character death, angst, OoC characters, horror, ****apocalyptic-like world, flashbacks**

**Disclaimer: Eiichiro Oda owns One Piece. I own the plot and words.**

**Important Note: This chapter contains flashbacks with differing ages not made clear in the scenes. These are the ages: In the first scene, Shanks appears 27 years old while everyone else appears as they already have. In the second scene, he is in his mid/late 30s and Ace is 14/15. Third is same as first. Fourth and fifth scenes, Shanks is around 16/17 and Roger and Rouge are slightly older than when we see them in canon. Last scene is the same as the first.**

* * *

**He's Called the Eater of Hearts**

None of them moved; even Robin was too shocked to have a firm grasp on the situation. She only knew minor details of who and what Luffy was, but she was not expecting anything like this to have occurred.

The young boy was currently passed out, snoring lightly and drooling against Shanks' shoulder as he stared at them, holding the boy protectively and even possessively.

"I'm sure you're all wondering why I'm here."

"I'm more wondering how this is possible," Thatch said quietly, shock clear on his face. The crew voiced their agreement while Whitebeard continued to stare, pensive.

"It all stems from that traitor," Shanks said, eyes turning hard. All of the Whitebeard's stiffened. Zoro, Sanji, and Nami's faces grew serious; they never knew the man, but they had heard plenty.

"What does this have to do with Teach, yoi?" Marco said, eyes hard as he glared at the red haired man before him.

"This would be much easier to show you rather than tell you," Shanks began, holding the boy in his arms closer. "He won't be seeing this, he need not know everything for now. It's much too violent for a child to see. In the future, maybe, but I don't want him to know more than he can handle. You'll be able to see but not interact. Now, watch," Shanks gave them no time to object or question him as the scenery changed around him.

Ace recognized the scene all too well.

* * *

"Run, Ace!"

Shanks grabbed the arm of the teen and yanked him forward. It was pouring out. Visibility was nonexistent. Only the sounds of enraged and dying shouts, feet slapping the wet ground, and the pounding of the rain resonated in their ears. The smell of iron was thick in the air, making the younger feel physically sick. Their clothes hung to their bodies in the wet, humid weather.

"Ace! We have to go!"

Ace stumbled, finally moving. Shanks dragged him along. Both panted with the strain of moving their injured bodies at such fast paces, with such force. Their survival instincts kicked in as they ran down the muddy, bloody, soaked beach. Sand stuck uncomfortably to their exposed skin, but neither cared at the moment.

They came upon a hill of rocks and Shanks slowed before slowly making his way down, watching carefully as Ace descended, preparing to catch him if he fell. His own blood began to drip onto the rocks, forming a splattered pattern on the rough surfaces. His hands, scratched and bruised, ached from the fight.

Shanks' feet hit the ground and without a second to spare, he grabbed the teen from the rocks and began running, ignoring the protests of the teen who screamed that he could run by himself. This was something Shanks had tried to protect the boy from, and he had failed. His crew was slaughtered at the hands of that damn bastard who hid everything from the world, who was the reason that so many people had died…

He finally reached his destination after running for what felt like endless hours. He breathed hard as he tossed the boy to the ground and then, with his hands on his knees, he began chanting. The boy looked up, shocked but too tired and injured to move. When Shanks finished his words, he looked up at the younger.

"Ace, stay safe."

Ace realized all too late what was happening. Just as the first letters of the red haired man's name escaped his mouth in the form of a scream, he was ripped away by that very man's own magic, sending him halfway across the world.

The red haired man turned, eyes changing from red to bright blue in the rain as he glared. Behind him stood a fat man with a greasy, tangled beard similar to his hair, a mouth missing a few yellow, rotting teeth, and a nasty snarl pulling at his lips, soaked with the blood of his victims.

"Teach," Shanks said in a low, daring voice. The man simply smiled a gruesome smile, bits of flesh poking out between his teeth and sticking to his tongue.

"You're a smart man, sending him away like that."

Shanks glared. "Why wouldn't I protect the son of the man who saved me?"

Teach's smirk disappeared into an empty look. The rain made him look all the more terrifying with the dim lighting of the odd, glowing mushrooms surrounding them, the only source of light on that cloudless day.

"This will be your end, Shanks."

A blur of movement; mud went flying as the sounds of skidding were heard. Rain hit objects moving too fast for the eye to see, providing the way to see their practically invisible forms. Blood continued to splatter on the ground in a disturbing rhythm. Grunts of pain would fill the air in intervals, followed by the occasional yelp or scream of frustration or surprise.

But, in the ominous atmosphere, with blood pouring from one at an increasingly fast pace, one had to fall.

Shanks hit the ground with a thud as the fatter man pinned him down, his knee digging into the red haired man's chest. Shanks made no sound of pain and only slightly winced for a moment before glowering at the man above him. Teach only grinned.

"This is your downfall. So much for the greatest wizard ever since Roger."

Then Shanks smirked, pure sadistic joy apparent on his face.

"I'm not known as that for nothing."

Glowing marks appeared on Teach's body in a perfect, symmetrical design. He looked at his body in terrified and enraged awe, not understanding what he was seeing but sensing the approaching doom he was about to face.

"I, Red Haired Shanks, seal away all powers having to do with Teach, Eater of Hearts, until his death consumes him."

Teach's body glowed as a red dust fell off of him, being swept away up into the sky despite the falling rain. He stared down at Shanks in horrified rage, but Shanks only smirked.

"Good luck figuring this one out."

Then, of his own will, as payment for the powerful spell he had used on Teach, his body burst into flame and disintegrated in seconds, leaving Teach alone. His shrill, angered screech of pure indignation echoed.

* * *

"I don't understand," Ace said, staring at the other man with pained eyes. He still felt some guilt over his death, but he had learned to move on and not dwell on the past. His regret was merely sleeping in the back of his head, dormant until that moment.

"My words. It all has to do with my words," Shanks said, a look of self-frustration revealing itself to them. "Until his death consumes him. I never said anything of the afterlife. It was a grave mistake on my part since I knew of it's existence. I foolishly believed he didn't. That will bring Luffy and you all large amounts of trouble."

"For what reason does he want Luffy?" They all looked at Whitebeard. He didn't seem too angry at Shanks' screw up – he seemed angry with Teach, as he glared at his form, frozen in time before them.

"He needed the All Soul. It is something we learned of on our adventures with Roger and somehow, he learned of it. Maybe it's not all that surprising, considering who he is, but still. Him having the knowledge is dangerous."

"Shanks? What exactly is Teach?" Sabo asked, staring at the man with confused eyes. Shanks' own eyes hardened.

"Exactly as I said. He is the Eater of Hearts. He takes the bodies of the dead and swallows their hearts and their dead but still thriving dreams. He does the same to his living victims – tear out the heart, consume the dreams. He's like a black hole except worse since he leaves destruction in his wake. At least black holes leave nothing horrible to see. But these hearts he consumes, the dreams power him. Dreams have immense power and he knows it well; it's why he willingly made a deal with the Devil. But, to have the most power, he must eat the All Soul."

It was silent as the information sunk in. Surprisingly, it was Zoro who spoke.

"What is the All Soul?"

Shanks stared silently for a few moments, unconsciously shifting Luffy closer to his arms, before sighing and talking in a slow, serious, sorrow-filled voice.

"It holds the dreams of all people in it and not only that, the dreamer has the biggest dream of all; it has immeasurable power. It can only come into being in one way. On his run from you and the crew, his plan was set into motion. He started by pissing off Boa Hancock, the only woman in the world who had the power he sought."

* * *

"You loathsome vampire," Boa snarled at the man before her, her clear blue eyes alight with rage. The pure fury that seemed to roll off of her body in waves was, by all means, justified.

Because there, before her, was a filthy vampire, standing over the bodies of her sisters who, not even an hour ago, had been alive. They had been strong; they were loving and kind and the two who had all of her trust in this world.

And they were dead.

Boa's eyes glowed blue as her snake, Salome, hissed violently, coiling into a defensive position around her. The black bearded vampire merely laughed mockingly, throwing his head back in pure, demented joy.

"I'll kill you," She hissed out threateningly. Just as she began to chant the words of her spell, as she was staring at the man before her with contempt, he looked down and stared deep into her eyes. And she never hated him more than she did in that moment.

That moment when her body no longer belonged to her.

How could she have been so stupid to not try and see if he had a power bestowed upon him? How foolish could she have been to not attempt to see what this vampire, who had the power to kill her beloved sisters, could do?

Of course, his power had to be control and persuasion.

The words of her spell became twisted. She realized what spell she was being forced to chant halfway through and she tried to stop herself. She made the palms of her hands bleed from squeezing her hands into fists; she made herself breathless by trying not to breathe as best as she could; she even stabbed herself with a blade on her hip, her own arms trembling with the effort to escape his grasp.

However, it all proved futile.

An eerie pillar of light ascended into the sky.

All went silent.

* * *

Shanks' eyes snapped open and he lurched forward, gasping for breath. He looked around in shock, eyes growing wide with confusion.

Didn't he just die?

And where the hell was he?

He stood, looking around frantically. He _knew_ that he had died. He had set the spell up himself, he had triggered it, his payment for that power was his death, so why the hell was he alive?

He turned behind him and his eyes widened in shock; his brows furrowed in absolute horror and his mouth opened in awestruck fear as he stared before him.

It was absolute destruction.

Ash was slowly beginning to fall from the sky like snow, covering the ground in a thin layer of black, gray, and white. Smoke billowed up from the earth in puffs of air, forming horrible looking clouds in the sky. Flames flickered on the ground, some large and consuming, others small and dying. Carcasses and corpses littered the ground while the skeletons of once most likely beautiful houses stuck out from the ground, barren and turned black from whatever explosion had happened. He could practically taste the iron in the air and there was plenty of red blood pooling on the ground to prove that survival for any people in the blast range was likely nonexistent.

Moreover, there was not a sound to be heard. Only the wind, which moved through the area in a soft caress, would make sound by passing through the frames of the destroyed homes. In the further distance, Shanks realized the hollow howling sound was likely coming from the wind moving through the utterly destroyed forest; only tree trunks charred black remained, covering and littering the landscape in a mess of charcoal and ashes.

Shanks felt sick to his stomach. Yet at the same time, he didn't seem to have it in him to throw up the nonexistent food his body believed he had.

A hand landed on his shoulder and he jumped, turning violently and glaring, before stopping as he realized who it was.

"Roger?" Shanks whispered in awe. The man nodded grimly before turning, and Shanks' eyes only widened more. "Rouge?" She approached with a sad smile before frowning, staring out at the barren landscape. It was silent for a long time before Shanks spoke once more. "What happened?" He asked in the quietest voice he could muster.

"I have no idea. But, I can remember I died, so I have no idea what I am doing here."

Shanks nodded and looked back at the torn land once more, sorrow filling his red eyes.

"We must go. There is nothing we can do here," Roger said with a regret-filled voice, turning his eyes away from the devastating scene and walking down the slowly blackening beach, ignoring the ash, which fell like snow around them all.

* * *

It was hours later when they realized something wasn't right. They were missing something vital in all of this destruction, because something else was truly, horribly wrong.

Only when the clouds disappeared did they discover the source of wrongness.

Not far off, where it was obvious an island once stood but was now just piles of rock, a pillar of light descended into the air, far into the sky, holding the sun in place, turning the sky a sickening shade of red. It seemed to suck all of the air out of the world which was unnaturally silent. Not even the ocean moved – no waves were visible – and the wind was now nonexistent.

"This is…" Roger's eyes were wide in awe, shock, and fear. Rouge stared up at it with a similar expression while Shanks looked down, terror dancing over his face.

"Roger…is that the revival spell?"

Roger grimaced deeply and closed his eyes, looking away from the pillar. "It is the revival spell. This is very bad though. Once we die, we are supposed to live in heaven. To be brought back to the world like this…"

"Roger, what will this revival spell do?" He looked to Rouge, who stared with immense concern at the pillar. Roger frowned before replying with a grave voice.

"The forbidden magic. Very few know the spell, and for good reason. For one hundred years, the sun will not rise and set and the moon will never be visible. The birth rate will drastically decrease and death will most likely increase. Ghosts of the past of the caster's choosing and even more will be returned to life during the century but in turn, all creatures of the night will be turned to stone, unable to die, oblivious to their surroundings. None will be able to so much as lay a finger on them."

Rouge covered her mouth with her hand as tears began to stream her cheeks. Normally, she would not cry, but knowing that she was a ghost and knowing quite a few creatures of the night herself…

Shanks gritted his teeth and clenched his teeth. "For what reason would someone do this?"

Roger's eyes narrowed.

"The All Soul."

Rouge and Shanks looked at him with confused expression.

"We are bloodless beings; ghosts do not have or deserve the sacred liquid of life. However, during this century, though we are visible to humans and can interact with them, we lack the ability to die for the next ninety years. However, birth is an entirely different matter. Any child born of ghosts during this period – and it will be a small number – is human but at the same time, not. They will not be given the red blood of life but rather the blue blood of death. They will have powers unlike any seen before. The All Soul…one person who embodies everything a ghost can have and everything a human can have. His blood is the purest blue that will be seen. If something were to happen to him – if he died in an unnatural way…the killer gains all his powers and it is very likely the world would be destroyed through ignorance or deliberate actions using the powers."

"Was this all on that poneglyph?" Shanks said with wide, startled eyes, his voice shaking slightly. Roger shook his head.

"I know of it…because this world has seen it once before."

Rouge and Shanks stared at the man before them with wide eyes.

"I am much older than you think I am. Magic can go a long way when used in deception. But it was all done to protect you from having to know of this...it's a shame it was all futile efforts."

Silence took reign over them for long, agonizing minutes.

"Is there any way to stop this?"

Roger looked at the young red haired man next to him with guilt-ridden eyes.

"No."

* * *

"Hold on a minute now! Are you saying we were frozen in time for a century?!" Thatch yelled, staring incredulously at Shanks. Everyone had looks of shock and disbelief on their faces as they stared at the red haired man. Even Robin looked slightly unnerved.

"Unfortunately, yes, you were. All of you were. Only Nico Robin here seems to have already known this."

All eyes turned to her.

"When Boa and her sisters disappeared without a trace, one would normally grow suspicious. However, I do not know much about what happened. I only know that a spell froze the world and none who have the powers of Night have any idea that such a thing has occurred."

Shanks nodded and looked down at Luffy. It was then that Ace realized something.

"It's him, isn't it? Luffy is the All Soul."

Shanks nodded, holding the boy closer.

"But why? If it's dangerous to kill him or for him to die of anything but illness or old age, then why are the humans so intent on killing him?"

Shanks sighed.

"It is a long story. Are you all willing to bear witness to the last one hundred years?"

Silence took reign throughout the crowd of over one thousand. They all looked between each other before all looked to Whitebeard, the man who they trusted with this decision.

"Very well. We shall watch."

Shanks nodded and once again, as if pressing the play button, the past began to play before them like a movie.

* * *

**AN: So, what do you guys think? I'm honestly making up everything about the blue bloods and ghosts as I go, so I don't know if it makes sense. If you're confused about anything, tell me and I'll fix it.**

**Also, from this point on for the next couple of chapters, Luffy and the crew will not be the center of focus; it will be Shanks and the ghosts we have seen plus more. **

**youshouldn'tneedtoknow: You might be curious for a while then. It's all gonna unfold really slowly.**

**MysticMaiden 18: You'll see what happens to him much later. And yes, now there's a lot of Shanks as well**

**Kiki2000: He deserves it, and I think you'll hate him even more by the end of this arc. Yes, Teach is "he". This chapter probably opened up a large door as to what Luffy is. He's the child of ghosts but he's alive. It'll make more sense later on. But yes, Teach did possess him. Thanks :) I hope you liked this one**

**Bluebird42: Hahaha I'm so glad you like it. Thanks :) I love adorable Luffy and Ace. I can't not have it in my stories. You'll see why Usopp is dead in this arc. I'm glad you like the song so much :)**

**Kisuminight: Thanks! I hate it when stories rush into everything. I'd rather take it slow to make sure everything gets explained well. Yes, Shanks is dead. These next few chapters will focus a lot on Shanks.**

**luffylova: You're not dense. I said at the beginning that Teach was dead. It makes sense not to suspect it. Yes he can, and you'll see how he does that at the end of this arc.**

**shadowmarialove: Hahahahaha I'm glad you liked it so much :) I hope you liked this one too**

**I was gonna post this earlier but then I got called in for an impromtu shift and I was ****like I don't wanna work but I had to. I'm so hungry now too. Haven't had dinner. Raaaahhhhhh. Anyway, thanks so much for reading this chapter! Please leave a review! :D**


	12. Chapter 12

**Warnings: Violence, horror, ghosts, fluff**

**Important Note: This chapter is basically a huge flashback around 110 years ago when the sun was frozen. It takes place during the first 10 years of being stuck in that realm. Shanks and his crew appear 15-18 years old; Rouge, Rayleigh and Roger in their 30s; Usopp 5.**

**Disclaimer: Eiichiro Oda owns One Piece. I own the plot and words.**

* * *

**Under the Frozen Sun**

It made no sense, but it was reality.

They were walking on water.

It had scared the crap out of Shanks at first – he was acting very odd, he thought to himself, but apparently he also appeared younger than he looked and it didn't help that Roger was being so calm and collected despite the fact that the once red sky was now green and _they were walking on water_. Rouge didn't seem to mind all too much, but Shanks could tell even she was slightly perturbed.

Shanks shivered slightly as his breath puffed in front of his face. It was absolutely freezing which made no sense, considering that the sun was high in the sky and not a cloud was in sight. He had never felt this cold before in his life.

"The temperature will be like this for a very long time. Some areas will be unbearably hot like a desert, others as freezing as the farthest reaches of the north. Extreme humidity, extreme dry heat, blizzards, horrendous storms – all will last for hours, days, weeks, months, even years."

"Why?"

"With the sun stuck in the sky, little will ever change except for the weather. Even the aging process will be greatly slowed."

Shanks sighed at the thought, mentally groaning at the thought of being seventeen forever. He shivered again, from the cold and something he thought he saw under the water, when a weight suddenly pushed down on his shoulders. He grabbed at it and blinked, startled, when he realized that it was Roger's Red captains jacket. Roger smiled at him before continuing across the water, his arm around Rouge's waist.

Shanks blinked, smiled, and ran to catch up to his long time idol, feeling, for some reason, much better about the whole situation.

* * *

"Yasopp? Ben? Roo? Usopp?" Shanks eyes were bulging as he stared before him at the friends he saw die and the son he thought was killed.

"Captain!"

"Shanks! You're back too?"

"Hey, Shanks."

The four teens clapped their hands together before Shanks ruffled the hair of the five year old Usopp. "Usopp! Last I saw you, weren't you fifteen?"

Usopp pouted. "Don't remind me!" The five year old mumbled, only causing Shanks to laugh at his misery. Then, Shanks blinked as a thought burst in his head and turned around to Roger and Rouge.

"Captain! This is my crew!"

"Yo! I'm Yasopp! This is my son, Usopp."

"I'm Lucky Roo, but you can just call me Roo."

"It's nice to meet you."

Roger laughed.

* * *

The sky was acid yellow. The air was unbelievably thick. Crickets and beetles music was loud, making it hard to hear one's own thoughts. Far above, strange bird creatures and tree dwellers screeched and made other indecipherable noises. The muddy swamp would occasionally pop bubbles which made the air smell putrid. The trees, despite having their trunks and roots submerged in water and their leaves under the sunlight, were quickly dying. Every once in a while, one would just wither, it's leaves falling down into nothingness as they disintegrated. It didn't help that the sun was shining so brightly above, as hot as a fire right in front of one's face.

"Shanks! It's hot!"

"I know kid, I know."

Shanks was panting, holding Usopp on his back as he trudged through mud that was waist deep. The humidity made their clothes stick uncomfortably to their bodies and their skin stuck together, but they had no other choice than to stay like this. If Usopp tried to walk in this muck, he would likely drown. It wasn't good that Shanks had to carry him though because the extra weight combined with the awful environment made him light headed, something he did not want to be in such a dangerous situation.

Shanks grabbed onto a branch, trying to pull them forward, but it snapped, sending him forward. He panicked for a moment and Usopp yelped before the red head reached out and gripped tightly to another branch. He sighed heavily in relief.

He pulled himself up again and began to trudge once more, trying to take large steps without losing his balance.

"Shanks! Is that it!" A small hand appeared in front of his face, pointing at a small island. Shanks grinned, relief clearly shown in his eyes.

"That's it, Usopp. We can get the medicine there."

Usopp gave a small cheer as Shanks continued to move, faster now, more determined and motivated than before.

Neither of them noticed the formless creatures approaching from under the murky, muddy water. They had glowing acid green eyes, watching their every move with sick fascination as the two reached the island and got on their hands and knees, back to the water as they plucked small plants from the ground.

Usopp felt something was off first. He stiffened, ceased his movements; he had his hand grasping onto some of the plants they needed while the other was stopped in the middle of stuffing some into a bag he had brought. He felt a small bead of sweat roll down his forehead as his eyes were wide in fear.

What was touching his leg.

Shanks looked up, quickly registering the unnatural silence, and his eyes widened in terror.

"Usopp!"

A slimy limb wrapped around the boy's ankle, yanking him back. Usopp fell on his face and yelped as he was being dragged back. His fingers clutched at the ground desperately as he was pulled back harshly and he was thinking _I'm going to die here, aren't I?  
_He was pulled out of his thoughts when he felt a hand grab his wrist. He looked up and saw Shanks, holding his arm tight. The red haired teen was glaring as he pulled out his dagger and raised it, stabbing at the limb holding onto the long nosed boy. An inhuman screech sounded and the dark water bubbled as the limb retracted in a slithering motion. Shanks pulled the boy up and held him before quickly grabbing the bags of plants they had and quickly began to wade his was across the other side of the swamp.

Usopp watched over the teens shoulder as the water bubbled. His eyes were wide with fear, slightly wet, when he saw long, fat blobs of slime and muck begin to surface, their terrifying green eyes boring into Shanks back.

"Shanks! They're coming!" Usopp yelled. Shanks made an irritated, annoyed, slightly scared sound as he tried to sprint through the slowly thickening liquid. With his free hand, he continuously grabbed onto branches, pulling himself forward. However, the trees were covered in a thick, viscous, liquid, making it hard to get a grip. He kept splashing around in it and, he realized with growing horror, that it was drying on him, making it hard to move.

Shanks began to move more desperately while Usopp finally managed to wrestle his sling shot out of his many hidden pockets and was shooting futilely at the approaching monsters.

"Shanks! They're gaining! I don't wanna die!" Usopp cried.

"We can't die, idiot! They can still hurt us though!" Shanks yelled back as he continued to trudge through the mud. He also realized he was sinking.

_Could this get any worse?!_

Suddenly a large monster emerged out of the ground in front of him. Shanks jaw dropped open in shock while Usopp screeched.

_IDIOT! _

The creature's mouth was open wide, a strange, acidic goo dripping from it's mouth and burning away the mud. Shanks eyebrow twitched.

_That's gonna hurt._

He brought up his sword, glaring with all his might at the monster, ready to attack, when it suddenly screeched in pain. Shanks' eyes widened in shock when it suddenly exploded into a mess of slime, splattering everywhere. Huge globs of it landed on Shanks and Usopp as even more landed on trees, slowly dripping down. The creatures once behind the two squealed in terror and retreated back into the murky depths. Shanks looked up to see what – or who – had saved them and the corners of his mouth instantly pulled up into a wide smile.

"Rayleigh!"

* * *

Hours later, the three were sitting around a small campfire. Roger and the others were off to the side, resting as the medicine did it's work to fight off the illness that plagued them. Rayleight was cooking some meat while Usopp tore into the only ready teeth with a greedy mouth and starving stomach. Shanks was quiet as he sat next to the elder man, who actually looked older than when he died.

"It's how this revival spell works," Rayleigh told Shanks when he asked. "You are brought back at a random age and slowly age from that point for the next one hundred years until we are ghosts once more, whether through are own deaths or not."

"How long does it take to age?" Shanks asked, ears open and brain processing everything he was hearing.

"For everyone it is different, but for most, it takes around ten years to age one year."

Shanks looked down at that, contemplative, as he bit into the meat he had just been handed. So he may only age ten years during this whole ordeal? If he did, then he would be younger than when he first died come the time to turn back into a ghost.

He didn't really know how he felt about that.

"Rayleigh," The silver haired man looked to the red haired teen. "What do you think about this whole All Soul business?"

"The All Soul, huh," Rayleigh said, biting into some of his meat. "It will change the world once again."

"Again?"

"Yeah, again."

"Roger said that this happened before too."

"It did, many years ago, long before you were born."

"What happened to the All Soul then? Did he live, or did he die?"

"No, he lived a long, fulfilling life. He regretted nothing."

"Who was it?"

Rayleigh looked at him with a knowing smile. "He's your captain."

Shanks eyes widened in shock and he stared, his mouth paused mid chew. Usopp was startled out of his eating when Shanks spluttered loudly.

"Captain was the All Soul?!"

"Yes, Roger was the All Soul."

"But – But I've seen him bleed before! We all have! His blood was clearly red!"

"That's the fate of an All Soul."

Shanks blinked and calmed himself at the solemn look on Rayleigh's face.

"You'll understand soon enough."

* * *

Rain.

It was raining large amounts of water, drowning them, decreasing visibility to below zero. The humidity was awful; sweat drenched their clothes and their skin along with the rain and the pure thickness of the air made it difficult to breath. What made it worse was that, even though there were rain clouds and everything, the sun still shone brightly above them, illuminating them, heating them to their very cores, blinding them even further.

Still, they were all holding hands. They couldn't get lost in this, not when they could easily fall over into the raging, flooded river full of rapids to their left or to a painful death by sharp rocks to their right.

Shanks really had to wonder how they kept getting in situations like these.

Roger had said that they had to travel to the other side of the world. It would be pretty easy considering they could walk on salt water (Shanks would never get used to the feeling and would always wonder why they couldn't walk on fresh water) in theory. It was actually ten million times harder considering the random, unexplainable weather changes and the creatures that kept popping up out of nowhere and just wanted to chew their heads off like dogs destroying chew toys or shoes.

It made Shanks want to pull his hair out.

Actually, it made all of them except for Roger feel even remotely irritated. Roger just laughed their complaints off, completely indifferent to their shared suffering as he stood there, hands on his hips, eyes alight with mirth.

Still, that was what made captain captain, and in the back of his mind Shanks knew he wouldn't have it any other way. Roger always seemed to know what he was doing. Everything always ended up okay. So no matter what, he would follow him to the ends of the Earth to learn why this was all happening and to find any possible way to stop it.

The dangers of nature didn't seem so scary when he thought of it like that.

* * *

It was his first time seeing it.

The sky was a pale purple, a few shades darker than the eerie tower of light that never disappeared from view, no matter where you were. Snow fell softly, elegantly over the landscape, touching the ground with it's pure white bathed in a soft violet glow due to the coloring of the sky. The houses surrounding them were frozen over with ice and it seemed abandoned since there was no sign of life. Anything made of metal was covered in a thick layer of ice, anything of cloth was cold and stiff, and the wooden homes were rotting from water damage. It was quiet and empty and could easily be overlooked.

If it wasn't for the vampire turned stone standing there, in the middle of the pathway, stuck in mid step.

There were a few other creatures too; some walking in or out of houses, some laughing or fighting, some stuck in poses as if meant to feed or hunt. But all were immobile, stone, and snow-covered.

It was beautiful and terrifying all at once. Shanks approached with the intention to touch it, but it seemed as though an invisible barrier prevented his hand from touching it's surface by bare millimeters.

"You won't be able to touch it. It's part of the spell. They remain untouchable until the end is near and only then can they be touched," Rayleigh said, walking up next to Shanks. Everyone was staring at the creatures, walking slowly and cautiously as if one move could wake them and they would immediately be ready to kill them. They knew it was impossible, but it still did not stop their nerves from running and fraying.

"This happened to every creature of the night?"

"Including angels…only ghosts remain unharmed."

* * *

"Usopp…" Nami trailed off as she stared at the boy being held in Yasopp's arms as he carried the child around. He seemed very afraid, something Nami didn't like. "It's been so long since I've seen him…"

"It's been around 740 – no, 840 years since we've seen him alive," Sanji said, lighting his cigarette and staring at the boy he only remembered as a teen. Zoro just stared, not really believing what he was seeing but at the same time wholeheartedly accepting it for what it was.

"My Dad and Mum too…and Rayleigh…but Shanks, what does this have to do with Luffy?" Ace said after the darkness left his eyes, turning to the red haired man who was watching the scene with a painful nostalgia shining in his eyes. But Ace and Whitebeard and Marco and _all of the crew_ wanted answers despite the sadness Shanks exuded.

"A lot more than you think they do."

* * *

**AN: Sorry if this is a little late for your liking. But, since I'm running out of finished chapters to publish, from now on, this story is to be updated on Monday's. **

**Genesis: I'm glad you like it so much :) I hope this chapter makes sense. More is to come, though.**

**Bluebird42: hahahaha, I'm happy you enjoyed it :) **

**shadowmarialove: In trouble for reading? I hope your tou-san didn't find you! Basically what happens is that we learn Teach gains power from eating hearts which hold dreams. Shanks took away that power and in turn had to kill himself. He also saved Ace from Teach. The All Soul - the holder of all dreams and the most powerful dream - is what Teach wants. To do this, he killed Boa's sisters, controlled her, and cast a spell that froze all creatures of the night, caused mass destruction, and resurrected ghosts which are the key part to the All Soul. Ace realizes Luffy is the All Soul and Shanks shows them what happened during the hundred years they were frozen in stone.**

**luffylova: Ah, sorry. Shanks' death was around 835 years ago, if my math is right. The scenes after are around 110 years ago. hahaha, thanks :) I hope you're okay with the Monday update plan**

**So, I don't have much to say aside from thank you for reading! Please leave a review! (If you see any mistakes, tell me and I'll fix it.)**


	13. Chapter 13

**Warnings: angst**

**Note: This takes place between years 10-20; everyone looks one year older than the previous chapter.**

**Disclaimer: Eiichiro Oda owns One Piece, not me.**

* * *

**Survival Is Not A Game**

They were running as fast as their bodies would allow them to run. If they could fight it, they would, but it wasn't as if an avalanche would be harmed by their kicks and punches, feeble in comparison to its roaring power.

Somehow they found and overhanging. Roger yelled at them all to get under it and they sprinted even faster. It was barely big enough for them all to fit and they all huddled close underneath it; just in time as well as hundreds of tons of rocks immediately fell over it. The roaring sound was loud, the rumbling of the ground making it hard for them all to stand. Shadows flickered over their forms as the dark, large rocks blocked out the sight of the orange sky, shining down on them with a burning vengeance.

It seemed like ages for the avalanche to stop. When the last few rocks fell and the sound or raging stone disappeared into the distance, they relaxed, leaning against the wall or falling to the ground.

They were covered in injuries; heads bleeding something that was not blood but close to it, limbs broken and bruised, cuts and gashes covering body parts, illness harming them. It was hard to get out of anything uninjured these days. They had been wandering for ten years to reach that island Roger said was extremely important, yet even if they could walk on water, there were still deadly creatures out there, lurking.

Shanks would rather see the most dangerous creatures of the night. At least they had souls at one point. These monsters didn't and they were absolutely vicious. They didn't find pleasure out of doing anything they did – their sole purpose was destruction. It was how they survived. People couldn't die, so instead they destroyed homes, caused disasters, go on rampages. Their acid green eyes, so alike to those monsters in the swamp ten years ago, were feared by everyone.

All of them had been recently injured by one of these beings. It had been a tall, grotesque thing with freakishly large hands and long, bony fingers. It's arms were gigantic, dragging on the ground as it walked, yet capable of destroying cliff sides. Like all the others, it had been a shade of black, dripping a strange liquid as it walked, with those horrifying acid green eyes.

Shanks was glad they were far away from it. He never wanted to run into that one again, but he knew it was futile. Even if they didn't run into that one, they would run into others.

What was the most frustrating was their inability to fight.

No magic, no odd powers, the strength of normal people. There had been many people with advantages years ago, but five years ago, they became normal people as well. No one in this world had the advantage over anyone else. It was terrifying, having no one strong enough to fight off these monsters. Shanks was just glad that Roger and Rayleigh were there because he doubted they'd be able to defeat the monsters without their help.

He never wanted to be eaten by a monster. You wouldn't die by being eaten. You _became _a monster yourself, losing all sense of self and transforming into a vulgar beast.

"Is everyone alright?" Rouge whispered from where she was crouched on the ground, holding Usopp against her chest. The two of them weren't injured, but they were ill.

Mumbled sounds of agreement were heard through the small space as they all shifted into comfortable positions, turning to each other to tend to their wounds.

Shanks himself was one of the worst wounded. In protecting Usopp and Rouge when the others had been knocked down, he had foolishly overestimated his strength and was smashed against some rocks. His head had an unsightly gash in the side of it, it's once profuse bleeding stemmed by Benn's quick first aid to his captain.

They rested for a half hour after treating their wounds and giving some medicine to Rouge and Usopp and then set out once more. Even if it was dangerous, they kept trudging on to that island where they could hopefully find safe haven.

* * *

For once, they had peace.

They were resting in a small cave, imbedded deep within a mountain side in an unnamed mountain in a large mountain range.

Yasopp was holding Usopp in his arms as he walked slowly along the cave walls, telling him made up stories of the paintings there with joy. Roo was cooking some deer they had managed to catch. Benn was taking a nap against the wall, tired from the previous night's watch. Rouge was sitting with Roger, mending the meager amount of clothing they had which was torn up, while Roger and Rayleigh talked about their next step.

Shanks looked out at the dark maroon sky, unnerved by the thrumming they had heard for the past three days.

Suddenly Roger sat down next to him at the mouth of the cave, his own expression serious.

"This happened the first time as well. It's nothing serious. It'll happen more frequently when everything turns back to normal."

"It's so unnatural."

"Everything is these days."

A few moments of silence.

"Roger, how did you survive?"

"I had to. Too much was at stake for me to die."

"What if this All Soul dies?"

Quiet.

"He won't die. He has yet to be born."

"How do you know?"

A smile; sad eyes.

"You'll understand soon enough."

* * *

"Nico Robin."

Shanks looked over at Usopp, who was staring up in awe at the woman frozen in stone before him.

"Did you know her, Usopp?" Yasopp looked down at the six year old, who stared with sad eyes up at the figure before him. They were in the middle of dense, dangerous woods. These days, few ever dared to enter them out of fear of death.

They mustn't have been that bad all those years ago…

The pink sky seemed to be mocking the sad child next to Shanks, it's happy color making the atmosphere for once peaceful, even if it was strange.

"I knew her. She moved to the town I grew up in. She was a really nice lady. She'd help me out when I was having too much trouble watching Zoro and Nami and Sanji."

"Who?" Rouge questioned, looking down at the six year old. He looked up with a smile.

"They were some neighborhood kids I was asked to watch over often. They were always fighting and never believed anything I told them, but they were good kids."

"You're still a kid yourself," Shanks smirked down at the kid who looked up at him with an irritated expression as he yelled indignantly.

"Only in body!"

Then Usopp looked back up at the woman. He stood there for the rest of the day, just staring as the rest of the group set up their camp for the night, extremely cautious but in grave need of rest. It was only hours later, when the sky had changed to a pale green, that Shanks sat next to him on the ground.

"You worried about her?" Shanks whispered. It was a while before the child replied.

"She never believed my stories either, but she'd humor me a lot. She was really powerful too. A seer. I didn't know they could live this long…"

"You're worried," Shanks stated. The boy flushed, embarrassed, and nodded.

"Do you think we could take her with us?" Usopp asked after several long, silent moments. Shanks gave a small regretful smile, already knowing full well that the boy knew the answer to that question.

"I'm sure she'll be fine. If she's as strong as you say she is, I'd be more worried about you than her," Shanks ended on a teasing note, making the boy whine and complain at him, telling him that he wasn't weak loudly.

Shanks felt like he hadn't laughed that hard in a long time.

* * *

Shanks stared in shock at the girl before him, the girl who had his exact hair color. She was staring at them with her blue eyes, standing before a creature defeated by the use of magic which could only be obtained by relations to ghosts.

Rose.

"Rose?"

The girl gave him a small, coy smile, mirth dancing in her eyes as she stared over at him and his group. They were all looking at him with various forms of curiosity. She seemed to know full well exactly who he was.

"Hello, father," She said in a quiet voice, one exactly like her mother's had been. "I'm sure you weren't expecting to see me like this, living and breathing, not trapped in stone."

"Well, considering you use magic, I assumed…"

"Mum had blue blood, Shanks. She was careful that you never saw it."

Shanks fell quiet, staring at the girl. Everyone looked between them, curious and cautious. "Is that why you have lived so long?"

Her eyes closed and another small smile graced her lips. Shanks took that as a yes as he watched her long, curly locks whip around her.

"What are you doing here? Don't you have a crew to watch over?"

"They'll be fine for now. Besides, what I'm doing now is for my crew," Her eyes grew hard as a sneer came over her lips. "That bastard tricked us all, Shanks. I didn't recognize him for who he was. He was on the crew for so long, he was _family_, and he still treated us like we were nothing but dirt on his boots. He killed some of the crew, slaughtered several from our territories, and now this," She spread her arms out wide. "I'll kill him, Dad."

Before Shanks could say anything to the girl, she disappeared in a flurry of wind. Shanks reached out for where she once stood with a sigh. The sky suddenly changed colors from a light yellow to a furious red as wind whipped around them furiously. Rain fell, burning the ground and their skin, pelting them like bullets. Shanks was forced to leave that spot with the others to survive, but only thoughts of his daughter were in his mind.

* * *

"Roger, should it be taking this long to get there?"

The man turned to Shanks, who was staring up at him with tired eyes. Not that Roger could blame him. After almost twenty years in a world so stagnant yet dangerous, one would feel utter exhaustion. No fun for such a long period of time was deteriorating to the mind. It was affecting all of them, and Roger only hoped it wouldn't affect their future travels.

Even he was getting frustrated.

"I have no idea how long it should take. We're walking thousands of miles, over water and land, with no aid and constant threats and injury. I was told that last time, it took 50 to 60 years to reach this island."

Shanks groaned. "That's way too long."

"We're forced to start as far as possible."

"That's annoyingly unnecessary."

Roger only nodded, staring out at the currently green sky and water. They had been at sea for fifteen days now, and all were growing tired and irritated from the constant trudging.

Roger could only hope it didn't all fall apart.

* * *

**AN: Sorry if this chapter is kinda boring. I'm having issues getting to where I want to be in this story because of stress-induced writers block and the fact that school starts tomorrow. But, hopefully after these first few days, I'll get back on track with the writing. **

**jam klaoo: Thanks! It's gonna be kinda sad for a while, but once this arc is over, it'll hopefully have more happy moments in it.**

**luffylova: The All Soul info will all be revealed in this arc and it will be quite the revelation I think. And Garp is coming up pretty soon :) **

**shadowmarialove: sorry if this story is confusing you :( If you have any questions, I'll gladly answer :)**

**Bluebird42: Luffy will be appearing at the end of this arc in a...dramatic way. Can't say much else**

**Thanks guys for reading this story! I uploaded another story called It's Complicated the other day so if you want, go check it out :) Anyway, please leave a review! I love reading them :)**


	14. Chapter 14

**Warnings: Seriousness**

**Disclaimer: I don't own the characters, who belong to Eiichiro Oda, but I own the plot.**

* * *

**What Must Eventually Happen, What Has Already Been**

Sometimes during their travels over the sea, they would come across entire boats encased in stone. Most of them were never very large. The largest one they ever came across was Whitebeard's ship, sometime during their thirtieth year.

As stone, it was large and foreboding. The beautiful architecture could not be admired in the face of hard, unforgiving stone. The crew, even the few humans there for some obscure reason, was entirely made of stone. It looked as if the ship had been stuck there ever since that fateful day all those years ago.

"Roger, what happened to these humans?" Shanks looked over at Rouge as she looked around at the humans frozen. The only way they were able to tell they were different was because of the different stone they were encased in. While creatures of the night were stuck in white marble, humans were covered in the darkest types of hematite. "They shouldn't be frozen, right?" She said sadly, looking over all the happy faces the crew had.

"It happens very rarely. If there are more creatures of the night than humans in a given area, humans may get trapped as well."

Shanks turned back around and looked up at the hulking form of Whitebeard. He had only met him a few times while on Roger's crew, and even then it was always in battle. Still, he held respect for the huge man, and to see him like this just made Shanks…angry. They hadn't seen many people stuck in stone, and only know, after thirty years, did it really sink in. They weren't just wandering the planet for the sake of it – they had to move, to find that island where the All Soul must be born, they had to end this for these trapped people.

If only ending it didn't mean waiting seventy more years.

"Ace!" Shanks turned and saw Rouge and Roger standing in front of the figure of the young man. His eyes widened as he realized that meant Ace was a vampire now, and he was stuck as well.

"It's strange, isn't it," Benn said from his side. "It didn't strike me how serious this was until now, when it's people I know and not random strangers trapped in stone."

"That's how it always is though, isn't it," Rayleigh said from behind, making both teens turn to look at him. "Unless you've lived it before or know the victims personally, its importance isn't really understood. That's just how people work, especially in a world where danger is everywhere and your only goal is survival."

Shanks turned back to Roger, Rouge, and Ace and felt his nonexistent heart break. They looked so sad. How must it feel to be reunited with your son, only for him to be completely unaware of your existence?

It was too cruel. It just gave Shanks one more reason to hate this revival spell and whoever cast it.

* * *

Shanks found it annoying that, after forty years, they still had not reached the island. Sure, they had to go to every single island between the start and ending points, but why did it have to take so long?

Still, maybe it was a good thing they had to visit all those islands. Otherwise, they never would've run into the Monkey D. family.

Until that day, Shanks could honestly say he knew nothing about the family other than the fact that Rouge lived near them with Ace while Roger was in and out, visiting whenever he could to try and be a good father while still being a pirate. He only vaguely knew Garp but like with Whitebeard, it was through battle.

The first thing Garp did the second he saw Roger was start a fight. Rayleigh just chuckled, amused, while Dragon sighed with deeply ingrained irritation and fondness. Rouge and Dragon's wife giggled while Shanks stood with his own crew in the back, all of them utterly confused, amused, and annoyed all at the same time.

Only Rouge's question was able to quiet everything.

"Are you pregnant?" She asked with worried eyes, looking over the form of her friend. The woman had long, shining black hair. Her eyes were a startling blue and her smile was large, wide, and beautiful. But underneath her eyes were bags of fatigue and lines of stress were forming on her forehead.

"From when I died…" The still unnamed woman trailed off. Rouge frowned and pulled the woman into a hug while the men stopped fighting or chuckling, their faces pointed either downward or upward.

Shanks and the others were left standing in confusion.  
"What's going on?" Usopp asked, his voice shaky and unsure as he gripped onto Yasopp's hand. The woman looked at him with sad eyes, a sad smile.

"My child has been chosen as the All Soul."

* * *

It was a few hours later. They were on land, in a jungle thick with lush bushes and flowers and fruits. They were able to feast, a rarity for them, and gorged themselves on the sweet, juicy food, not caring at all for the bugs attacking them or the roars of monsters deep in the unknown darkness shielded by human sized leafs.

They were on the beach at the moment, surrounding a fire pit they had built, eating some more of the delectable fruit. But the air was not one of playfulness – no, it was serious, tense. The woman held some fruit in her hands, staring down at it as the orange fire against the dark purple, almost black sky sent looming shadows across their faces.

"As you know, anyone can give birth in this time, no matter if you are ghost or human, animal or monster. The ability is there. It's the only way the All Soul, the child of ghosts, can be born."

"We understand that, but how do you know you are the mother?" Shanks said, tilting his head to the side as he bit into a large fruit, almost the size of his head, trying to get every last bit of it into his stomach.

"The child, while born in this time, cannot be conceived in this time."

The teens and Usopp stopped eating and looked up at her, looks of understanding crossing their faces. Next to her, Dragon bit harshly into a fruit, yanking out the insides with ferocity that can only be born from anger, grief, even regret.

"Only one woman who was killed while pregnant is revived by the revival spell. That woman will give birth to the All Soul host. Though I want my child born, the last thing I want is for him to be the All Soul."

Shanks had put his fruit in his lap, staring at the fire. He knew Roger could tell what he was thinking. Maybe this was what Roger meant when he said he had to wait for the answers.

"For all I've heard that name thrown around, not once have I heard much about what they do. They hold the strongest dream of all and the dreams of all others. Why is that so important?"

The adults looked between each other before Roger sighed.

"You boys deserve an answer…it's been far too long. You've suffered as much as us. We need not hold the answers from you any longer."

Shanks, Benn, Yasopp, and Roo looked between each other while Usopp just stared at Roger confusedly.

"The All Soul is born during the revival spell. For the revival spell to be possible, a child who was killed before his birth must be born within the 100 years this spell takes place. It is the only way that the ghosts are able to live as long as we have. We are connected to the child. But, something happens when the spell ends to that child, something incredibly unfair."

Shanks had a bad feeling as Rayleigh took over where Roger left off. The mustached man was staring at the fire, hands clenched tight together. Garp sat with his arms crossed, back straight, and expression grim.

Two very known jolly men were grim. That didn't sit well with the red head.

"Once the All Soul, the last ghost of the revival spell is born, his or her structure is changed. All ghosts become alive again, but only through the blue blood. Death comes quick to many and their dying wishes are linked to the child. As the spell slowly wears off of the creatures of the night, their souls too become linked with his. By the time the blue bloods have been for the most part killed off, the child holds the dreams of the dead within himself, in the blood running through his veins.

"If that child dies, all those dreams are let loose like Pandora's box. Chaos would engulf the world. That is why the child must let go of all of those dreams in a safe place, where they will be undisturbed forever."

He did not continue. The adults were saying nothing, the teens were tense, Usopp was scared.

"How does the child do that?"

Roger closed his eyes.

"The child must die and turn into a red blood," He started, ignoring the looks of shock coming across the youngsters faces. "At the place we are heading to, there is a cave deep within the mountains. There, the child must be submerged underwater for twenty four hours, dead. They will come back to life, but if anything happens to the child while in that pool…Pandora's box, as Rayleigh said. That chaotic horror would unleash itself. Dreams would go haywire, turn into nightmares, take possession of anything in sight, cause havoc, kill…"

"The kid has to die?" Shanks said, his nonexistent blood running cold. Roger had to do this to himself…now a little kid had to do this to himself.

"_Why?_ That's so unfair!" Usopp's voice was strangled as he felt his tears well in his eyes. Just imagining having to do that to oneself. "Doesn't that hurt?!"

Roger didn't answer.

"Is that really all Teach wants? To unleash chaos onto the world?"

"Probably not."

The youngest five looked over at Dragon, whose face was set in a deep scowl as he held his wife close to him.

"If Teach can take possession of the All Soul, he could do anything he wants. Until the child becomes a red blood, they have unspeakable power – the ability to talk to the dead, take large amounts of pain to make if more difficult to die – a defense mechanism really – they can fly, speak to animals, do an array of things. If Teach does get his hands on the child, the disaster he would cause would be horrendous."

Dragon held his wife close to him. Garp sat as still as he was before, back straight, but now his eyes were closed in pain. Rayleigh sat with his arms crossed as he stared at the fire. Roger looked at the ground, his elbows on his knees, as Rouge's hands rested over his clenched ones. Usopp clutched onto Yasopp at the new knowledge while the teens stared in varying states of shock and horror. Shanks threw his gaze to the ground, clutching at his clothes desperately, furiously. He muttered to himself angrily, a new fire burning in his eyes.

"Teach!"

_I'll make sure you fall._

* * *

Shanks handed the sleeping child over to Ace as he turned back to look at the scene he remembered oh so well. Ace was staring down at the boy with eyes full of mixed emotions, tears falling from being unable to contain them. The rest of the crew was much the same, even Zoro, Sanji, Nami, and Robin, who barely knew him, all had either wet eyes or looks of fury.

"Luffy," Ace whispered, cradling the body. The boy had to fricking _die_? Even if it wasn't…_permanent_, the thought still terrified Ace to the very core. What was even worse for Ace was that he remembered that woman, even if it was only vague, a shadow in his dreams. He knew she had been pregnant, had been waiting to be a big brother in a way, because that was what would have happened. The two families were always together. But then Ace's family had to leave with a promise on both sides to meet again.

He never knew that she died.

"It's not over yet," Shanks said, still staring ahead at the scenes playing out one by one. Robin looked at him, eyes hard.

"Of what?" Normally she wouldn't question new information, but if it was just irrelevant traveling, she would rather return to reality.

"Of what happened to us and the boy's birth."

* * *

**AN: I really don't know how I feel about this chapter. Wrote it last night because of school and other stuff and blaaaahhhhhh. It sucks the life out of me. But, this chapter had a bunch of important information that hopefully cleared up some things. I'm just gonna list them in clearer terms below because I don't know how clear it is but I don't really want to rewrite it...Sorry for being lazy.**

**1. Once the All Soul is born, the revival spell slowly begins to wear off. Ghosts have blood - blue blood - ensuring that they now, like red bloods, have the ability to die. The spell around the frozen-in-stone people begins to wear off - no protective barrier.**

**2. Too many dreams enter the All Soul's body. He must let them out in a magic pool hidden deep in the mountains, submerged in water for 24 hours - dead during them - and is then revived with red blood.**

**3. The All Soul's mother was pregnant with the child when she died and she is the only pregnant woman revived.**

**blacklightningwolf: Thanks! Sorry if it gets confusing at times, but hopefully this chapter helps make more sense of things. :)**

**Aslightlybadasshuman: Thanks! I'm glad you like it! :)**

**Guest: Thank you! Hopefully this chapter cleared things up. Sorry for the confusion.**

**shadowmarialove: That's good! I'm glad it makes more sense now :) **

**MysticMaiden 18: I'm glad :) Happy you enjoy it!**

**Bluebird42: Yes, Chopper isn't going to show up for a while, but Franky and Brook should be showing up soon...I think. Haven't been able to write a lot lately :( Thanks! :)**

**luffylova: Hahaha, ya, but she was like a two or three year old when he last saw her. She only recognized him through her mother's words. **

**samettikettu: Thank you! :D I hater writers block so much, and school doesn't help. A club against it sounds lovely!**

**Rahhhhhhhh school! This is my senior year and I just don't want to do ****anything! It's so bad! I mean, I'm a workaholic so I get stuff done (if I don't do my homework I literally feel like crying and I stress myself out - it's really bad) but it's just - school! And I hate it when a teacher assigns "studying". I'm NOT going to study. I can't sit there and stare at vocab! It's not possible! I'd rather have work! *coughs* Ahem, sorry for the rant, but school (mainly the people) has been grating my nerves a little. But it helped me manage to write this last night in like a half hour! I was like "Oh no I totally forgot about The Color Matters! D:" But then this was born! Don't know how it turned out, but it's necessary. **

**Anyway, thank you so, so much for reading! Please leave a review - they all make me really, really happy! I love you guys! Ana out ~**


	15. Chapter 15

**Warnings: Language, violence, character death, fluff**

**Disclaimer: Eiichiro Oda owns One Piece, I own the plot and some concepts.**

* * *

**When Everything Goes to Hell, A Small Light Will Shine**

They had finally reached it. After eighty years of suffering, and trudging, and near agelessness, they reached the no longer elusive island. Really, it was just a large mountain surrounded by lush trees without a beach, but still.

Somewhere in that mountain was where the boy would have to die.

"This is the place?" Shanks asked, his voice quiet with frightened awe. He was a pirate and once upon a time, he shunned fear, laughed at it, but now was different. After living through everything he had, losing all his strength, going through unbearable pain without dying, he truly knew what fear was.

And this island had every right to be called terrifying.

The mountain seemed to be covered in this luminous glow of odd colors, making it appear unreal. What's more, the colors moved, making the island have an unrealistic shimmer. The trees were large and looming with long, knobby branches and thick, twisting roots at the bottom. Their leaves were large, abnormally so, and though many of the trees leaves were rich green, there were shades of purple, pink, yellow, blue and orange all in their most acidic, neon-like shades. Odd fogs and mists of similarly strange colors surrounded the island, creating an unbearably humid atmosphere. His eyes also caught the large and small array of landmasses in the sky, with creatures flying between them as the islands rotated, spinning and moving up and down in space. Sounds of groaning, creaking, moaning, and shrieking echoed around the landmass, making fear boil in Shanks' gut, because they all knew very well what those sounds were.

But by far, the most terrifying thing was the large body sticking out of the earth, towering over the mountain. Only the torso, head, and arms were visible as the body leaned over the island in a protective stance. Plants grew out of its pores and creatures walked its surface with irreverence and ease. Its eyes were open, wide, staring out with an empty gaze, as tree roots literally grew from it's eyeballs.

Shanks had never seen something like this before in his life, and it was horrifying.

"A spell was cast over that giant many years ago. It's part of the island and must protect it for it's entire life, always moving as a result. It's likely why you've never seen it. It will only stop once it feels the All Soul approaching."

"Is that why it's taken so long to reach it?"

"Yeah. It's always moving, never stopping. Now that we're here, once we're on the island once more, it will begin to move again. The creatures on the island aren't anywhere near as violent as those elsewhere, being so close to the Pool of Souls."

"Pool of Souls?" Dragon's wife asked. Roger nodded.

"All of the dreams in it counterbalance each other, making it a neutral atmosphere. From what I remember, the island is quite peaceful."

Roger's voice seemed to get dimmer and dimmer. Shanks continued walking, now lagging behind everyone else as he stared at the island.

Something was wrong.

He turned around in the middle of the water, staring at the flat sea. Something was approaching in the far distance. It was moving fast.

"Shanks! What are you doing out there?" He barely heard the yells from the shore as he realized that the large something was chasing a person with…red hair?...

Rose!

With inhuman speed, she reached her father. The look of panic on her face was all he needed to know that grave danger was coming.

Just as she reached him, the sky behind her seemed to shatter, turning a burning red. The sound of breaking glass echoed all over as the sky literally began to fall.

This was new.

Shanks grabbed her hand and both of them bolted. In the back of his mind, Shanks could hear Roger and Rouge and everyone else on the island screaming at them to hurry.

A deafening roar sounded behind them, making Shanks' nonexistent heart pound.

What was chasing them?

A large wave suddenly formed and the two of them were thrown forward, landing on the island harshly, rolling over the dirt and smacking into trees before coming to a stop. Shanks looked up just in time to see the sky, glowing a horrifying red, shine down on the island the island began to glow as well.

There was a scream.

Shanks looked over and saw Dragon's wife on the ground – it appeared everyone had been tossed back by the wave – clutching at her large abdomen.

Her clothes were getting wet.

"Her water's broken!" Rouge shouted as she sat down next to the woman in a rush, telling her to breathe. Shanks could tell something was wrong though, the way that Rouge looked over the woman. Something wasn't right.

"Shanks, watch out!"

Shanks turned behind him, his eyes widening in fear at the monster that sat above him. It was a snake-like creature with coiled bones protruding from it's elongated body. The creature roared and opened its mouth wide. Shanks made to move but found he couldn't get up. He turned around and looked down at his legs, only then realizing that one of them had been cut off.

How had he not noticed that?

The mouth came down at him and he knew it was the end, just _knew it_, but then a shadow – a human shadow – came and covered him. Blood splattered everywhere as the yellow fangs dug into the body.

_Blood?_

_"Once the All Soul, the last ghost of the revival spell is born, his or her structure is changed. All ghosts become alive again, but only through the blue blood. Death comes quick to many and their dying wishes are linked to the child."_

His eyes widened at the realization.

_As the child is born, we gain life, only for death to catch us first._

"YASOPP!"

The man grinned down at him.

"It's been an awesome adventure, captain. One I won't ever forget."

The monster lifted it's head up, bringing Yasopp with it. Shanks was screaming as were several of the others. He could hear Usopp screaming bloody murder and at that moment Shanks hated himself more than anything.

The head was tilted back and Yasopp was bit in half with a sickening crunch, one horrified scream cut off, and then the creatures throat bobbed as it ate the man.

Shanks couldn't remember much after that. He knew he was screaming at the monster, which was walking away like _nothing had happened _and he hadn't felt so _so so angry_ in years. He knew he was lifted and someone carried him away as he cried, trying to go back and avenge his friend while he heard Usopp sobbing.

He hated everything about this damn spell. It wasn't a gift.

It was a curse.

* * *

Shanks sat, staring down at his now useless leg. How was he supposed to survive this whole ordeal on one leg? He couldn't let them bring him with them – he would only drag them down, and he refused to do that. Rose sat next to him, eyes closed as she leaned against the tree they sat against. In the near distance, the sound of Usopp crying seemed to echo through their small camp as Benn attempted to comfort him with Roo.

An infants wail broke through the tense silence.

Rose shifted, looking behind her as Roger emerged from the tent, a relieved yet sorrowful expression on his face. It wasn't surprising, considering he personally knew what the poor child would end up going through. As the sound of voices made murmuring sounds in the tent, the tall man went to the cliff nearby overlooking the ocean.

Shanks belatedly realized that the sky must've broken and the sky seemed to break because of the child's birth beginning.

He wondered what was going to happen next.

* * *

Luffy was scarily small. That was a common thought among the group. His mother insisted that he was perfectly healthy though, so none said a word against her, especially since she was in a mental state similar to a Mama Bear or a Mama Elephant.

Shanks had to wonder how the baby would survive.

Currently, the red haired man was sitting on a board they had created so they could drag him across the water. At first he vehemently denied letting them put him on it, but it wasn't like he could run away on one leg. And he couldn't try to run away either since they had told him to watch after the infant and his mother.

She was in bad shape, worrying them all. She seemed to be constantly suffering; her breaths were labored, she shivered and was in a constant cold sweat, she mumbled in her sleep, and her skin was pale. It was nerve wracking for poor Dragon.

The baby whined and Shanks rocked him, making a soothing noise as the small sled-raft-thing went over a small wave in the water. He looked at the people pulling the string and walking. Benn and Roo were both with Usopp, who was still shocked over what had happened to his father. Shanks didn't think he'd ever forgive himself for such a thing, even when the boy had told him earlier that it wasn't his fault.

Garp was pulling the raft while standing between Roger, Dragon, and Rayleigh, who were all talking in hushed whispers. Rouge was walking a few steps ahead of them, occasionally whispering something back to them.

His hair was tugged and Shanks grunted slightly, looking down at the infant in his arms with a fond smile. The newborn had wide blue eyes and he heard the boy's stomach growling, causing Shanks to sigh exasperatedly. The baby had a seemingly endless stomach compared to other babies he met. Still, he couldn't help but grin when he thought there was a ghost of a smile on the chubby face, even if it was just his imagination.

Luffy's eyes looked to the back of the raft and, for some reason, he began to wail.

Loudly.

Shanks tried to calm the boy, but nothing was working. The raft stopped moving and soon Rouge was there, asking what was wrong, but Shanks had no solid answer.

At least, not until the water splashed up in a huge waving, showing a gigantic creature with glowing eyes, a slimy, scaly body, and a head ten times bigger than Garp, who was a pretty damn big guy and the same size as several monster.

But this was out of their league.

The last thing Shanks was able to make out was shouting and the sound of Luffy crying.

* * *

**AN: I'm sorry this is late but writers block keeps hitting me during this arc. IT'S SO ANNOYING! DAMN YOU WRITERS BLOCK! Sorry if the chapter is short too, but it was all I could think of at the moment. And yes, now that Luffy has been born (I'm just going to clarify this too because I know there may be questions, but in this story once the mother goes into labor, the world is all like "oh, the kids coming out now? Ok, let's make everyone sad!" if you get what I mean...I hope but ask questions if you don't understand) the characters will slowly begin to die one by one. I REALLY DON'T WANNA DO SOME OF THESE DEATHS GUYS. I'M GONNA CRY I KNOW IT.**

**kdh1997: Thanks! Yeah, a lot of things about Luffy can end up really good or really bad. I'm glad you find it interesting and that it makes sense :)**

**Diclonious57: Fluff is awesome :)**

**spoons-are-evil: You're back! :D I understand, school sucks. I can do weekends only now :( Thanks! I've noticed that a lot of vampire stories have romantic love to it, especially in fanfiction, but I hadn't seen anything that was just violence, which is how vampires are normally depicted, so I gave it my own twist. When I made up the concept of All Soul, I immediately thought of Luffy, and I'm hoping that when I get later into the story, it will make some pretty awesome scenes, action-wise and drama-wise. They're probably gonna go looking for the island right away, considering the fact that it moves n' all. And I love Shanks. I feel so guilty for torturing him like this though! Ah, yeah, senior year. The only thing that's really tough is the epidemic of senioritis, where everyone procrastinates. it's not good. Thanks :)**

**seikens: I'm glad you liked that scene, I love writing fluff moments :)**

**Guest: I'm glad it makes more sense now :) (did it log you off? Does that to me sometimes)**

**ichigi111kurosaki: hahaha, yeah, a lot's gonna happen now**

**Bluebird42: I know! it felt good to finally write that info out. I hope you enjoyed the chapter despite Yasopp's death :( (Sorry Yasopp!)**

**luffylova: Yep, Garp is here! Ahhh, I did another cliffie. Sorry! hahaha, thanks! :)**

**shadowmarialove: hahahaha, a lot is gonna happen now. Especially surrounding Shanks. **

**Once again, I'm so sorry for the late update guys. Writers block and homework are evil, evil things that we should not have in our lives. OH! Also, I have ABSOLUTELY NO IDEA what to name Luffy's mom in this fanfic. If you have any suggestions, please tell me! **

**And, thank you so much for reading! Please review! Love you guys :)**


	16. Chapter 16

**Warnings: slight angst, OoC characters, fluff**

**Disclaimer: Eiichiro Oda owns One Piece, not me! **

* * *

**The Calm Before**

Shanks' eyes opened quickly and he sat up fast before gasping in pain and grabbing his side. He felt hands, one on his shoulder and the other rubbing his back soothingly, as a voice asked him questions, none of which penetrated his cloudy mind.

It took him several minutes to calm down. Once he did, he realized that he was in a small house which appeared to be made of stone. It was dark inside, with only the flickering of a candlelight giving him any ability to see. But all of the forms were hunched over or darkened by the blackness of the shadows that seemed to consume them.

He turned and saw Rouge sitting next to him, a soft and sad smile on her face.

"Rouge?...what…where are we?"

She sighed and turned her head down to the floor, her hands folded over her lap.

"We were attacked. We've…we've lost Benn, Roo and Garp. I'm sorry, Shanks."

Shanks stared blankly for a moment before an anguished look came over his face. He punched his thigh, gritting his teeth.

His best friends were all _gone_.

"But…you saved Luffy. For that, we must all thank you. You know, the child seems to have taken a liking to you," Rouge's voice was strained with emotion and Shanks could clearly see her eyes were red and puffy, but she still smiled.

He didn't know how she did it.

* * *

They were on that island from a very long time ago, where they had met the petrified friends of Usopp, two demons and a werewolf. They weren't going to leave the island since it was, except for other blue bloods, abandoned.

They were going to try and make it home.

Shanks knew it was futile, considering their fate, but couldn't help the feelings of hope from welling up deep in his chest at the thought. Maybe, before it was their time to…_move on_, to put it delicately, they could have some semblance of a normal life.

All the ghosts and bluebloods were trying to make it happened.

Their island was small, dotted with small foresty areas. Ponds were abundant on the landscape just as the flowers were everywhere, attracting the bees and the butterflies and the birds unaffected by the curse. The grass was green and long and he couldn't remember the last time he felt so happy being outside, which he had been for the past eighty or so years.

And for once, it seemed the sky was returning to it's normal colors. The sun was still attached to the pillar, but the color was becoming ever so slowly a light yellow that it normally appeared as. And the sky – it was also slowly returning to the dazzling blue. The ocean seemed alive again as fish could be found jumping, in the distance dolphins leaped, and every once in a while in the far, far distance, he could make out a whale tale. And the gulls were back, singing their song of absolute freedom.

He realized he wouldn't have it any other way.

There were maybe fourty of them in total, the youngest ones being just a year or two younger than Usopp aside from Luffy, who was easily the youngest of them all. And they had people of all sorts – large, small, tall, short, all colors and all with their own styles and preferences and personalities.

But all of them were somewhat broken by the long battle. They all had their moments of solemnity, eyes dark with longing and remembrance and pain. They figured that, among the groups they had managed to gather to that one island, because they knew that there were others spread among the seas, that they had lost at least 257 people in total. It was a large number, considering there may have only been 600 or 700 to start with.

But still, they kept their chins up and built.

Shanks and Usopp were to live with Roger and Rouge. Their house was small, a cottage really. The walls and floor were made of stone and the roof of logs tied together. There was a hole in the top to allow smoke to escape from their fire pit in the middle of the room. The door wasn't really a door, just a piece of cloth to move aside, much like the window covers. And their beds were nothing more than stuffed pieces of cloth sewn together.

But it was home, and they were proud of it.

* * *

The sound of a baby giggling was followed by a light hearted chuckle.

Shanks was sitting out in the rolling, grassy hills of the island, staring out at the waves crashing against the rocky shore. Usopp was sitting nearby, sketching the landscape on a piece of flat wood that he would later carve out, like he had done many times before. He was smiling at the sound of the giggles coming from Luffy.

It had been five years since they had reached the island and Luffy appeared to be only six or seven months old. He was smiley, drooled a lot, and loved to make noise and be loud. His eyes were large and held innocence in them.

Shanks wanted to make sure that shine stayed in those eyes.

He was holding the baby on his lap, bouncing him lightly and making silly faces and sounds. The kid loved to see stuff like that.

"Ah, Luffy, let go!"

Usopp looked over and laughed.

The little bugger like to pull on long hair too. It didn't matter who you were to him – if it was within his reach, your hair got pulled. This included mustaches as well, much to Roger's chagrin.

Luffy let go a little while later, yawning and rubbing at his eyes. He began to whine a little but Shanks just cooed softly, something he still couldn't believe he did, and rocked him until he fell asleep.

Shanks was somewhat of a caretaker now. Luffy's mother had grown very weak over the years. They expected that it meant her time would come before Luffy would reach one year old, something that killed them all to know. She loved the boy with all of her heart, having him sleep right next to her, always with her as she did chores – it was rare for her to let him out of sight until she collapsed in the center of their village one day.

Since then, Dragon has been trying to nurse her back to health. But it's been almost a year. None of them knew what to think or how to help either of them. All they could do was watch over Luffy when they couldn't.

Rouge, Roger, Usopp and Shanks visited often. Luffy loved to see all of them, and as his mother grew weaker, it became normal for him to spend a night at their house. He could eat an ungodly amount of baby food and get into a lot of trouble, but he was sweet and the whole island adored him.

They just wished they could do something for his mother.

"Oi, Shanks!" Usopp called, making the redhead turn. He realized that Usopp had finished the landscape sketch yet had carved something on his lap. The teen held it up and Shanks laughed despite the faint flush of his cheeks.

It was a carving of him and Luffy.

Usopp loved to tease him about how much he loved the baby despite how much he himself loved Luffy. It was just something that he had taken to. They had all been teasing each other ever since they settled the island. They hadn't seen monsters there since.

It didn't mean they didn't exist. Once in a while, one would pass by the island, staring longingly and hungrily, but unable to enter the unexplainable barrier that had formed.

Luffy began to whine again, pulling Shanks out of his thoughts as he bounced the boy a little to make him laugh.

He hated to have to see him cry.

* * *

**AN: I DID IT! HAH! TAKE THAT WRITERS BLOCK!**

**I am SO SORRY for such a late update. School kinda destroyed my inspiration for this story. BUT I will NOT leave it unfinished. I hate it when an author does that and have vowed to myself to NEVER do that. I think this chapter came out okay considering my still slightly there writers block. It's definitely good to have nice feels before the next few chapters. I don't know when the next update for this will be - I just had nothing else to do right now and my hands kinda just flew - but I will try to get one up before November and if not, then hopefully Thanksgiving. I'm planning on the former though. The next week will be difficult though because I have to start sending in info to my colleges *shivers* ahhhhahhhhaaaaahhhhh. So, I gotta deal with that first guys. Sorry :( Also, after this chapter, I'll be replying to reviews by PM. **

**onegirl92: Thanks! That means a lot to me :)**

**LostFairyMantic: Thanks! **

**Yana5: =D**

**kdh1997: Sadly yes. But things got better! For a while...**

**shadowmarialove: I know! I've been cursing it this whole time. I can be pretty lazy with my updates too. Candy Crush has taken over me. Can't answer that question, but I'm glad you liked the chapter! And seriously, I love your reviews SO FREAKING MUCH, thank you so much for them :)**

**Bluebird42: I'm sorry! But he has it better than... not gonna say, not gonna say. But yes! Luffy is alive!**

**luffylova: I'm sorry for the cliffie (I love writing them ;) )Thanks! And I tend to shout when I get excited too :)**

**Also, if you haven't checked it out, I have another story called It's Complicated. As of now, it gets more updates, but as long as that story is updates, so will this one!**

**Thank you SO, SO much for the reviews! I love reading every single one of them! Thank you for reading and have a good night/day! :)**


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